The Good China

The Good China

I’m not sure if people still do this, but I imagine some do. It used to be a common practice to give a gift of good china table placements for a wedding. Those special plates, cups, bowls, saucers, pitchers, and serving dishes were set aside for special occasions. Some people had designated china cabinets – we had the top shelf in the kitchen nearest the sink. It was a small, incomplete half-set, a casualty of my parents’ contentious divorce. Nonetheless, Mom treasured it. Every holiday or special gathering prompted the use of the good china.

Regular Dishes

Our regular dishes were a mishmash of sets, leftover pieces, hand-me-downs, and collectibles. Mom saved everything, so our cutlery drawer had little pink plastic spoons from getting Baskin Robbins ice cream and a wide assortment of various doodads. I was in middle or high school when the supermarket began running a promotion on individual items that made a complete dish set. It had matching mugs, plates, saucers, bowls, and milk and sugar serving pieces. Mom decided she wanted a matching set, so little by little, with each grocery trip, she would buy a discounted item. Piece by piece she completed the set.

I’m not sure what prompted her to upgrade, maybe too many bowls or cups had broken in the ragtag “set” we had. Maybe she was embarrassed. I don’t know, but I do know she loved them. They were beige with tiny homes, hearts, and flowers on them. Soon after the set was complete, she and I went to Home Depot to find wallpaper to cover the peeling paint walls in the kitchen. The walls had been like that for my entire childhood, so this was a big deal. She found the perfect print – beige with tiny homes, hearts, and flowers. It almost perfectly matched the dishes. Thinking back now, she must have been ashamed of how the place looked, but it was always neat and clean, and she took pride in making it the best it could be.

Only The Best

Adults are ashamed of things like not having matching dishes and peeling paint; kids – not so much. As a result, whenever I got the chance to honor my mom, I  didn’t consider what I didn’t have, I chose only the best.

When I was about eight or nine years old, I was home sick from school. My brother wasn’t sick and Mom was at work, so I had the apartment to myself. She called to tell me she would be coming home to check on me during her lunch break. Excited to see her, I rushed around and pulled out our rusty old metal card table, some fine Irish Linen, and the good china. I set about making tuna fish, toast, and tea. After draping lace over the chairs I set the table beautifully with whichever matching cutlery I could find, a proper tablecloth, and “the good china.”

She was thrilled to bits.

I had used the precious good china on her.

Somewhere there is a picture of her sitting on a lace-covered chair at the tiny card table dressed head to toe in her white nurse’s uniform – smiling at me. She was my mom and she deserved the best.

He Deserves Our Best

It was this memory that flashed through my mind as I read Malachi 1 today. God is angry that His people are offering damaged sacrifices on HIs altar. He points out that they would not be giving these types of offerings to their governor because he wouldn’t accept them. I get it. He deserves our best. When we consider how our God, Jehovah Jireh, provides for us – why wouldn’t we offer Him our very best? The passage convicted me. What areas of my life am I offering less than the best? Where am I giving only a portion? Why do I not always break out “the good china” for Him?

I’m so glad that God is patient. The whole bible is filled with Him caring and providing for His people, followed by Him waiting for them to appreciate what an amazing thing He did. We can’t outgive God. When we give Him our best, we aren’t losing something valuable – He’s bound to replace it with something even better.

I think it’s time for me to break out “the good china.”

 

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