GE Profile Spacemaker
It was the last week before my good friend’s out-of-state move, so I had her over for dinner. I cleaned house fairly well for the occasion. I thought I had the food timed just right, but alas, the casserole cooled before the beans were complete. Innocently, my friend casseroled her plate up and moved toward the microwave. The word nooooooooooooooooooo escaped my lips in a slow motion groan as I vaulted into the small space left between my friend and my GE Profile Spacemaker microwave.
“You can’t open that!” I was mortified once my thoughts caught up with my dramatic convection-block. “Let me do that for you,” I offered, hoping she would accept and say no more.
“Why?” She seemed wary and amused at the same time.
My face flamed and I considered telling her a lie. But I couldn’t. “It’s been at least a year since I last cleaned it, and it’s bad. I’m talkin’ sauce-spattered, meat-encrusted, unidentifiable-food-particle bad. It’s too shameful for you to see inside.”
She grinned. “It’s not like I’m going to judge you. I don’t care how dirty your microwave is! Do you think my house is perfect?!” I had the nerve to nod; a move at which she promptly laughed.
We stood toe-to-toe for several seconds as I weighed my options. Then slowly, I stepped aside and held my breath as she stretched her hand up to grasp the formed white plastic. There was the telltale ‘pop’ of the door opening and then a pause as she peered in.
“I’ve seen worse,” she offered with a smile as she commenced with her food re-heating. Just how many microwaves had she looked into!? But I understood what her comment really meant. She was letting me know it was safe to allow her access to my proverbial dirty microwave. She would still be my friend even after witnessing my inner unidentifiable-food-particle flaws.
It was a touching moment. With tears welling up in my heart, I said jokingly, “I’m so sorry I waited until you were moving to take our friendship to the next level.”
I am happy to say that despite the distance, the two of us still share a great friendship. I count a handful of other amazing women among my dirty-microwave-level friends. I would not want to walk through life without them. They comfort me, speak truth to me, and laugh with me. These friendships can’t be made with everybody. And they can’t be made with just anybody. Some are for a season, while others can last a lifetime. But we all need them.
How about you? Do you need to allow a friend access to your dirty microwave?
Growing up as PK (preacher’s kid) I moved around a lot. It was hard to make friends then not only because we would move but also the heartache of saying goodbye. I got to the point when I would rather have no friend at all than to feel that hurt. Now I sometimes see that past experiences have stopped me from letting my friendships go to the next level. I have asked God to help me in this area and to send me the friends that I need. Like you said we all need those we can trust, who will keep us in line, who we know prays for us when we ask and I hope God will continue to make sure that I have good one through the rest of my life.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll pray for you as well in this regard!
Hi Beth, I’m checking out your website after seeing your comment on mine. A) Beautiful website! B) Beautiful post. I am truly grateful for friends who see inside my “icky microwave.” I used to (and sometimes still do) have a hard time letting people all the way inside…I’d give them peeks, but full-on vulnerability scared me. God’s done some definite work on me in that area!
Thanks for checking out my site! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your heart too! There’s nothing cooler than God @ work.