God, I Fell into My Kichen Sink by Patti Greene, Greene Pastures by Patti
There is a big difference between doing crazy things ourselves and Biblical prophets doing crazy things. The former is just a part of life we live as human beings. Sometimes our antics make us laugh. Sometimes we get in trouble. But, the latter is usually to convey God’s message to human beings.
My Story
I had never fallen into my kitchen sink. And, I wasn’t planning to fall in today, but it happened! All the training I have had in this life did not prepare me for this moment.
I just finished cleaning my house in preparation for a party I was having over the weekend. That was the only thing on my agenda today. The house was dusted; the floors mopped; the carpets vacuumed; the tables set up; and the cute decorative plates and cups from the Dollar Store were placed around the centerpieces in an orderly fashion. While it is a totally different situation, I felt like Jael in the Old Testament when she said, “Out of the window [I] looked and lamented,” (Judg. 5:28). My house was looking extremely good, but then I spotted pesky water marks and food splotches behind the open blinds above my kitchen sink, and I lamented!
I had no intention of cleaning my windows the professional way, with a squeegee and dry cleaning cloths. I just grabbed my window cleaner and some paper towels and I was ready to do the quickest clean-up job possible.
Being my age, I already knew that I was not capable of using my arms to help me jump up on the kitchen counter, as I had been able to do in the past.
I had already placed all my chairs around the tables that the guests were going to use and I didn’t want to disturb my décor, so I made the decision to stand at the counter with my front facing the opposite counter; I pushed my feet on the counter, and somehow scrunched myself up onto the kitchen counter. It wasn’t easy!
From there, I sat on the counter and started my window washing feat. I have a divided sink—a 70-30 split double sink. I sprayed the windows above the smaller sink and did the minimum required so no one at my party would think I am a bad housekeeper.
The dilemma came next. Should I jump down off the counter and do the same process of getting back up on the counter so I could clean the other side of the window? That seemed like a lot of work, so I decided to just squiggle my back end across the front part of the sink with my legs hanging down to get to the other side.
It worked great past the smaller sink, but as I tried to pass the larger sink, I plopped right into the second [and larger] sink. My back end knocked down my water-filled college coffee cup; pushed back the faucet; and I landed right onto a drenched soak-filled kitchen dishcloth.
As I sat in the sink with my legs dangling over the sink, I had three thoughts.
- I wasn’t planning on falling into my kitchen sink today;
- My granddaughter takes her baths in a kitchen sink; and
- How hard is it going to be to get myself out of the sink?
I wasn’t alone. My friend was sitting outside on my back porch. Honestly, I didn’t want to call out for her and then have her come in and see me plopped in the kitchen sink like a real weirdo. So, I sat in the sink for a while and finally figured out how I could get out. Did I mention these sinks are the deep kind—the kind you pay more for to have them installed? I did get out of the sink by wiggling around and pushing up and down on the counter. It was not a pretty picture. Finally, I jumped and landed on the kitchen floor feet-first with my pants soaking wet. I momentarily felt my back hurt when I hit the ground.
After the ordeal was over, I stumbled outside and told my friend what happened. At first, she seemed concerned, but as I told her the story, we just could not stop laughing. She then asked me for a reenactment, so I graciously accommodated her as I followed the exact steps over again. All the while she snapped photos.
The Moral
So, what’s the moral of this story?
- We all do crazy things sometime. (I fell into my kitchen sink.)
- Bad decisions and risky behaviors usually result in consequences. (I was soaked.)
- Doing crazy things can be dangerous. (I could have fallen off the counter and really hurt myself.)
- Thank God for friends who love you even though you do crazy things. (Friends are valuable.)
- Vow not to do them again. (I made the decision to be more careful in the future—after my reenactment.)
- See the humor in your actions and laugh if you can. (I laughed about my crazy feat.)
Conveying God’s Message
We all have done crazy things, whether it was making a prank phone call as a child or a misguided judgment call as an adult. But, do we ever think of people in the Bible doing things that appear crazy to others? They did.
Tweet This- Ezekiel took a brick and started drawing artwork on it and playing with it (See Ezek. 4).
“Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around. Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it.”
It sounds like Ezekiel was playing with plastic construction toys that children use for play, but he was really drawing and playing as a prediction of the upcoming siege of Jerusalem.
But, it looked crazy to others.
- Daniel chose not to eat the king’s food (See Dan. 1-2).
“But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so, he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.”
It sounds crazy to give up the delicious food offered by the king, but Daniel told the overseer to test Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and himself for ten days and give them only vegetables to eat and water to drink. They turned out to be more intelligent and healthy than the others who ate the king’s food. God’s purpose was to prove their wisdom to King Nebuchadnezzar. Later the king would call on Daniel (and his friends) to discern a dream. Being available in this way prevented them from being destroyed with the rest of the “wise” men of Babylon.
- Hosea named his second and third child crazy names: No Mercy, and Not-My-People (See Hosea 1).
“When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
Hosea’s crazy names were not for himself, but to show God would have no more mercy on Israel and that they were not His people and He was not their God anymore.
Using Your Antics for God
The difference between our crazy things and some of the crazy things the people above did was that they did their crazy things to convey God’s message to the people.
But, how about this? Use some of your crazy things to convey a message from God. Put them in a blog; share them with your friends; become a humorous story teller; then add a twist of the Bible to your stories. That is what I tried to do here and it is just plain old fun! Use whatever God allows in your life to be for His glory.
When we allow God to take all our life and all the things that happen to us, He can use and change us. God did change me today. I learned something about danger, irresponsibility, and consequences. I was fortunate that I landed feet-first when I leaped out of the sink. But I still had a consequence—luckily, the only consequence I had was to change my soaking wet pants!
To read another “Crazy Patti” story, click here to read about how I almost sank in a drainage ditch. (Title: Consequences)
Bible Verses:
[There is] a time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance (Eccles. 3:4). [Paul} said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk. (Acts 14:10).For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality (Col. 3:25).
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for all You put into my path. Let me enjoy life. Let me laugh and have good, clean fun. Let me use all the situations You put in my life to be a means to share the joy of my salvation. I love You Lord. Thanks for the fun and crazy experiences You allow me to have. Keep me from sin and temptation and give me wisdom to make wise decisions. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
God Bless,
Patti Greene, Member Inspirational Writers Alive
Edited by E. Johnson; Bible verses taken from the NASB.
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Books by Patti Greene
Answer Me: Developing a Heart for Prayer (A Devotional Prayer Journal) by Patti Greene, click here
A 90-day devotional prayer journal for all ages; This informative and how-to book on prayer is for seekers, new believers, and mature believers. It encourages a commitment and devotion to the art of prayer. Learn how God reveals himself through Bible study and prayer. ISBN: 978-1512760453 (Paperback) $11.95 on Amazon.
A 365-day devotional prayer journal for in-depth Bible study; Fun words or phrases from the Old and New Testaments! Perfect for mature believers. ISBN: 978-1490893181 (Paperback) $27.95 on Amazon.
A 181-day devotional prayer journal for growing individuals; The Bible and social issues. Perfect for new believers. Comes with a group study guide. ISBN: 978-1490893174 (Paperback) $19.95 on Amazon.
