Don't Cry Over Spilled...Spaghettio's?

It seems like things always go wrong when you're either tired, in a bad mood, or both. Not so long ago, I had a day like that. I had just had a long day - what seemed like a Murphy's Law kind of day, and I just wanted something easy for dinner for the evening. It was only me and my youngest daughter home that night, so I settled on leftovers, and my daughter chose Spaghettio's. I put the bowl of Spaghettio's in the microwave and put my leftovers on a plate to be heated when those were done. The microwave beeped, and we made the swap - my daughter came and got the Spaghettio's and I put my leftovers in. While I was standing at the microwave watching the time tick down, I heard SMASH in the kitchen. I knew immediately what had happened, but I stayed right where I was for a second so I could face the mess with at least some composure.

Once I mustered up the courage, I went into the kitchen, and it was even worse than I thought. My daughter had dropped the entire bowl of Spahettio's and it had exploded all over the kitchen floor. When I say exploded, I mean there was Spahettio and bowl shrapnel everywhere. Mixed in with the sauce, noodles, and meatballs were little shards of glass from the bowl. I just stared at it for a couple of minutes, not even knowing where to begin. And the little voice in my head kept saying, "Of course, the one evening I just wanted things to be easy. I just wanted to eat my dinner and relax."

And then I looked at my daughter who had tears in her eyes and realized how selfish I was being. It wasn't as if she dropped the bowl on purpose. In my fatigue and annoyance at how that day had gone, I had forgotten one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Philippians 2:1-11. I had forgotten that I am supposed to be like Christ and, in humility and gentleness, put others' needs before my own. I am supposed to humbly serve like He did. Yes, even on a bad day with Spaghettio's all over the floor, I had to put myself aside and realize what my teary-eyed daughter needed was patience and help cleaning up the mess. Even though I wanted to just go relax and forget that bad day, my daughter's needs had to come before my wants.

So while my first reaction was to be mad (not at my daughter, but at the situation and life in general), I instead had my daughter throw me the roll of paper towels, and we got to work scooping up sauce and glass. I ended up having to mop the floor three times to get the floor to not have a red glow. But the mess did get cleaned up, and I still did get to do some relaxing that night.

So, don't cry over spilled Spaghettio's. Don't get uptight when life gets messy and you don't want to deal with it. Remember that Jesus got tired, too, but He never stopped serving out of humility, grace, and love. Be like your Savior. Clean up the messes, and show love to those who make them.