Adjustable

The pot of water on the stove starts boiling over while I'm chopping veggies on the 12 inches of counterspace I have in my kitchen. With the cookie rack balanced on the separator of the sink; I dump the pasta in the pot, turn down the heat, and pull the cookies out of the oven just as the timer goes off. The stove top's covered in pans of cooking food, so I search frantically for a space to set my hot pan of cookies. The 12 inches of counterspace is already overoccupied... the sink!... already occupied. Oh wait, I do have another 12-inch piece of countertop... but it's being used by the rack full of drying dishes. I would stick my cookies on top of them, if there wasn't already a bowl of something or other balanced on top of the drying dishes. I finally resort to holding the hot pan of cookies while they cool and I stir the boiling sauce with my other hand. Finally, I shovel the cookies off onto the rack balanced on the sink. I've almost mastered the skill of cooking a bazillion things at once, or anything at all for that matter, in my closet-sized (literally) kitchen. It wasn't always this way.

I recently went from this:

To this:

I don't regret the decision. However, it has required some adjustment.

Our lives are full of changes - good or bad - and we, are required to adjust. Often times the decision to adjust is ours. We can choose to live in discomfort or misery. We can choose to refuse change.

Or... we can adjust.

We live in a world of adjustable things. Adjust the sound; adjust the height; adjust the length; adjust the temprature; adjust the lighting; adjust the support level; adjust the angle; adjust width.... modern convenience is wonderful. But are we sometimes losing the growth that comes with adjusting ourselves? Adjusting ourselves to our circumstances can make us stronger. Better.

When you adjust a belt, you leave room for growth. Of course in this sense, there is a negative associated with gaining weight. However, if we choose to adjust the "belt" in our selves, we allow our spirits and our character room to grow.

When our eyes are exposed to light, they adjust. Often after a long time in the dark it is hard for our eyes to adjust to light. But once our eyes are adjusted, the light helps them see far more than they could in the dark. The light illuminates everything. When we allow ourselves to adjust to circumstances (either that we have chosen, or that God has chosen for us, or that others have chosen for us) we can see the beauty in all that is around us. And we are able to see things in a different "light."

When babies are born, their bodies must experience great adjustment. Each day they adjust more and more to the new world they have entered. But each day, as their bodies are allowed to adjust, they become stronger and stronger. So can we, as we adjust to circumstances in our lives, become stronger and stronger.

So, I'm trying to be more "adjustable."

And I hope in doing so, to be able to grow and become stronger. And happier.

And to see the beauty....if there is any.... in my miniscule,

closet-sized kitchen!