Thank God For Dirty Dishes

In our family we've always been big on handmade gifts. When I was 17 my mom made us the best gift ever, though I don't think I realized it at the time. She made us a family cook book. Early on in the year she had sent out letters to all our family and friends (there were quite a few) and asked them to send in some of their favorite traditional recipes. There were relatives I didn't know we had, old friends who we'd lost touch with, dear friends from church who send in their favorite recipes.....and they were all compiled in a big binder with ton's of pictures to boot (so next to my grandma's recipe was an old black and white picture of her when she was a young mother). It must have taken for-ever, I don't even want to think about how much time it took my mom, single mother of 5 teenagers, working full time, and going to school full time. What a nice mommy I have.

At the time I didn't think much of it cause, hey I was 17 and I was much more interested in heading off to collage than cooking. But now as a mother of young children where cooking has become more a part of my life, I use it a lot.

One of the things that always stuck with me was a poem she included. I think an older family memeber gave it to her, I love it and decided to have it in a more visible place in the house. So I busted out my silhouette and got to work.
Now it is on the side of the cupboard right next to the sink so I can always read it. So as I roll up my sleeves to do the third load of dishes later today, all of course put into our dishwasher, I will thank God for my dirty dishes.

If you can't read it, it says:

Thank God for dirty dishes.
Thank God for dirty dishes,
they have a tale to tell.
While other folk go hungry,
we're eating very well.
With home and health and happiness,
we really shouldn't fuss.
While other folks go hungry,
God's very good to us.

Thank God for dirty dishes!