On Having an Attitude of Gratitude

I came home from school today and noticed that there were dishes in the sink, so I rinsed them off and loaded the dishwasher. No sooner than I had put the very last dish in the dishwasher, The Child comes along, fixes herself something to eat, and drops her plate (not even rinsed, mind you) into the sink. Then, The Child fixes herself something else to eat and leaves a mess. Then, The Child proceeds to go back into the livingroom to watch Degrassi or Zoey 101 or whatever shows The Child watches.

As I peered at the dirty dishes sitting in the sink and the crumbs on the counter, I thought, "What an ungrateful little brat." I thought of telling her to come clean the kitchen, but The Child would have said, "I'm only 11 and 11 year olds shouldn't have to clean!" I would have replied with, "If an 11 year old can fix herself something to eat and dirty the kitchen, she can clean it."

I decided that The Child isn't mine so it's not my job to teach her responsibility, so I grudgingly put her dishes in the dishwasher along with my own and cleaned up her mess. As I was doing that and thinking about how ungrateful and spoiled her actions are, God said to me, "Amber, how often are YOU an ungrateful child?"

How many times does God rinse the sins off my plate for me to just turn right around and drop another dirty plate in His sink of mercy without a second thought? How many times do I use the excuse, "But I'm only human! And humans shouldn't be expected to always do the right thing because we have a sinful nature!"

By the time I loaded the last dish into the dishwasher, I had a different attitude. Today, I choose to have an attitude of gratitude. When I watch God rinse the sins off my plate, I'm going to thank Him more and show my appreciation by not turning right around and dumping another one in His sink of mercy. And being human, just like being 11, is absolutely no excuse for not taking responsibility for myself and my own actions. The sink of mercy is always there, but like me, God doesn't always want it full of my dirty dishes.