It all started with the dish brush...

It all started with the dish brush.

You see, I have a brush used for dishes. There's one for dishes, one for scrubbing the sink, and one for scrubbing veggies. They are clearly marked. Except, of course, the dish brush.

One day, I wasn't feeling well, and my beloved husband, who is fantastic about doing the dishes so I don't have to, decided to scrub the sink--the job I usually do. But, he used the dish brush.

I was nearby and within three seconds, I had an argument of epic proportions in my mind. To correct or not to correct. I know, I know. The man was helping me out. I needed to keep my mouth shut. But, you know I couldn't. Those were my extra neat dish brushes from IKEA and last time I tried to get more they were gone and it's 3 hours to IKEA!! And he was getting sink crud all over it. Do you know how many germs are in a kitchen sink?

According to MSNBC, "Kitchen sinks are dirtier than most bathrooms. There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in the drain alone. Plus your sponge, basin and faucet handles are crawling with bacteria as well."

While I'm on the subject, please go wash your dishrag. Within two hours of use a dishrag has 30 million germs. By the next day, it has 18 billion! Can't even count 'em after 3 or four days. Nasty!

But, I digress...

So, you probably already figured I spoke up. I tried in my three epic seconds to come up with a way to say it in a way that wasn't too jerk-like. I said, "You know there's a brush for the sink, right?" and I even said it with a smile.

You know what my husband heard? "Why are you doing it all wrong, idiot?"

This led to a great conversation. Once we all calmed down. ;o)

This reminds me of something my dad used to say all the time. "I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."

You know what we learned? We think completely differently from each other. That's not exactly new information, but our discussion was. He let me know that his brain works like the traffic in the many lanes that circle the Arch de Triumph in Paris. No real rules or organization. Everyone just goes.

My brain? Oh, my. It has traffic cops and well-organized lanes and everyone knows the rules and obeys them.

I'm a planner. It's true. Prior proper planning prevents poor performance. I believe it, and I live it. I wake up planning everything that makes our world go around. I have two meals planned at the beginning of every day. I have calendars and lists and reminders and a constant voice in my mind telling me what needs to be done. It's the hamster on a wheel that I wish I could turn off when my head hits the pillow.

I can, however, definitely and very happily, fly by the seat of my pants. For example, we do take off frequently and unexpectedly on road trips and I don't need to have a plan or map or schedule. I thrive that way as well. But for twenty-ish years, keeping my home running smoothly has been my job, and I really do try my best.

I know that a lot of people plan better and are much more organized than I am. I have too many messes around me to fit into the world of the ultra-organized, and I just now got my first label-maker. One such ultra-organized person I know was known to say that God is in the planning. Hmmm...not too sure about that. Not that He can't be, but I think that often I can plan Him right out of things. He doesn't need my schedule or my ideas. He doesn't need me to keep a list for Him or play traffic cop.

The Bible would read quite differently if it was based on human thinking. When Moses arrived at the Red Sea with bad guys chasing him from behind, he was told to step in faith into a situation that made NO sense. With human thinking, there would've been a boat-building committee and a project manager and a few dozen meetings about how to get the people across. With God working it was GO. Just go. And He took care of the details. And, didn't He?!

When it comes to the big stuff in my life, I have totally learned to let GO. When you know love, you can fully trust.

I do not know what my future holds. Our family is in the process of standing at the edge of our own Red Sea and waiting for the GO. We don't know exactly what it looks like, but we are enjoying watching the puzzle pieces start to take shape. And we dream and hope and wait. But faith doesn't look like a plan. Faith is non-sense. It doesn't look like a list or a project. It has no definitive shape. It's stepping forward into all and whatever when God gives the word.

It's like a road trip with no plan or map or schedule and no savings account. Can you imagine? I sure can. We did that a couple years ago and made it 13,000 miles and had the time of our lives. And it was such a beautiful picture of the word GO. Perhaps we needed to see it played out like that so for the rest of our lives we would take Him at His word, and know that there is simply no such thing as God dropping the ball.

And, life's a lot more fun with a few surprises isn't it?