Letting Go of the China Cabinet Mentality
As we were cleaning our living room this weekend, my husband and I remembered we needed to add a screw to one of our curtain rods. It’s one of those projects on my invisible to-do list: tasks that only take 5 minutes but seem hard to start.
We couldn’t find the screw that I had put in a very special spot. I looked in the hardware drawer, the junk drawer, the attic steps, and some bowls inside our China cabinet.
I paused. Why do I stash “special things” - like a rogue screw, a few pieces of leftover candy, that xylophone drumstick I don’t want my son to find…in our China cabinet!
Looking closer, there are champagne flutes, beautiful platters, and our tea set all set up beautifully. And then, when you peak in our sugar bowl, you’ll find these tropical drink umbrellas I’ve stashed there for a special occasion!!
It occurred to me that I stash these items, regardless of their perceived value, in my China cabinet because the one thing my fancy plates and these tidbits have in common — I’ve created a mental hurdle to using them.
...The occasion doesn’t seem special enough to set a fancy platter
…It’s too complicated to pull out the chair to stand on and screw that into the living room curtain rod
I also do this in my discipleship relationships with my kids.
…This moment feels too ordinary to bring out that Bible activity I was excited about when I saw the download in my email
…That set of conversation cards is so pretty I’m afraid if I let my toddler use them while we chat, he’ll bend them all up or spill his smoothie on them.
But the trade-off is that I end up not using these tools to help spark gospel-centered conversations in our day — because I rightfully hold them in high regard as useful tools but wrongfully hold them too high as not a fit for our messy days.
My son is already 2.5 and is forming his own opinions about how he’d like to spend his time. My suggestion to read the Bible during breakfast isn’t always met with joy like it was a year ago.
It’s been a humble reminder that even when I feel like he won’t understand our gospel conversations at his young age, this window in toddlerhood is the perfect age to “train up a child in the way he should go, so when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).”
Here’s some encouragement for you (and me) —
Use it, don’t lose it! If you’ve downloaded one of our printables or bought a set of conversation cards — put it out where you’ll see it and use it. Don’t stash it away for a “better day.”
Let go of your expectations. It may not (and probably won’t) be the “perfect” conversation or moment you were hoping for. But you are sharing eternal truths and you are making a memory with your kid(s). That’s the ordinary, everyday, sticky faith we crave to pass on to the next generation anyway.
So, go forth, fellow disciple-makers! Ditch your china cabinet mentality. Then, in all the special moments and all the mundane moments — MAKE MEMORIES WHILE YOU MAKE DISCIPLES!
