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God’s bathroom

August 14th, 2003 · No Comments

I’ve been remembering recently an article I read in the Seattle Times, nearly 3 years ago, titled: Can you enjoy your money and be the person you always were? In this piece, a woman – a mom and “Microsoft millionaire” – described how she chose to have one sink in the bathroom – even though she could have easily afforded two – so that her two children would learn to share. “Sharing is a part of what you have to learn. These guys are going to learn to share the sink.”

Wish I could say that we chose to have our children share one sink. Now with three girls, we’d have to purchase a palace in order for each to have her own sink and toilet. Well, a quick count of our home gives a total of four sinks and three toilets, so it’s not as if all five of us are scrapping over one bathroom. (We have three baths: two up and one down, the master bath accounts for two sinks)

Recently though Michaela has decided to stop using her little plastic potties and to use the toilet instead. This is a big transition for the sisters. They now need to learn to either wait for each other or to go to another bathroom, which means probably taking the stairs. Already they sometimes struggle while sharing the sink, and soon Elisabeth will be brushing her teeth with them…

This morning I tried to explain to the girls how they need to learn to share the bathroom now. Michaela was proclaming that she wanted to put her little potty away but Abigail was upset at the thought of losing her own toilet. So I was trying to explain to the big sister that it wasn’t just her toilet. The girls gave me their own perspective, an even bigger picture:

Michaela: These potties not just you guyses (referring to Ted and me). They belong to all of us.

Abigail: Actually they belong to God. It’s God’s shower too.

Michaela (looking around the room): God’s countertop, God’s table, God’s potty, God’s wipes…..

Michaela: This bathroom’s not just you guyses…It’s God’s bathroom also.

Yes, it is God’s bathroom…how we can forget! And God sure has learned how to share with us 🙂

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