Inventory Your Kitchen Cabinet

Inventory Your Kitchen Cabinet...sounds like a domestic challenge that would go on the top of your to-do list and keep you in the 'command central' of your home all day doesn't it?



If you are anything like me you might even be giddy with the anticipation of getting your cupboards and pantry organized and you probably have hopes of me providing you with lists of must have pantry staples and go-to gadgets to make kitchen chores and meal prep easy and fun.

Well I hate to disappoint and apologize for misleading you...but the kitchen cabinet I am referring to has very little to do with the hub of you home and has much more to do with the center of your life.

Before I go any farther with my Kitchen Cabinet message please allow me to interject a small but interesting history lesson...

I'm sure you are somewhat familiar with Andrew Jackson - the 7th President of the United States of America.  He was not a fan of big government and thought that the control of the country should not be in the hands of the wealthy but rather the common man...making him known as the first 'citizen's president'.  Many of his practices and beliefs were considered unorthodox by those in government...resulting in a less than cordial relationship with his political cabinet members.  So President Jackson assembled his own unofficial cabinet team. This group of personal advisers were mostly old and trusted friends from Tennessee that reportedly met with him in the kitchen of the White House....they were called the Kitchen Cabinet.

You may have an idea of where I am going with this mini history lesson - and I have a confession to make...I stole Old Hickory's idea.  [I was a big fan of Andrew Jackson and his beloved wife Rachel all through my Jr. High and High School years.  They were always great to do a report on since they were not among the most frequently reported on historical figures and carried with them all the drama, courage and excitement that a teenage girl needed smack dab in the middle of U.S. History classes :)]

When ApronStrings Ministries started in the kitchen of my home way back when my daughters were just little things, I felt the nudging of the Lord to make sure that I had a Kitchen Cabinet of my own...and I still do.  My cabinet members are close friends and advisers to this ministry...some are stay-at-home moms, some are working women, there are pastor's wives and women's ministry directors and a fellow speaker/writer.  Some are in my cabinet for a season and some have weathered all seasons.  Some have been 'officially' asked to fulfill a specific purpose and some just naturally, through the course of relationship, influence and support me as I seek to serve the Lord and His ladies.

So ApronStrings Ministries has a Kitchen Cabinet but so do I...and so should you...and you probably do!  My personal and ministry cabinet members have quite an overlap of the same people - but for right now I want to focus on the personal aspects of the benefit of having a Kitchen Cabinet chock full of valuable friends.

My Kitchen Cabinet is as eclectically stocked as this one here to the right.  I have long distance friends and local friends [my Idaho cabinet was empty when I moved here but the Lord has graciously filled it with gals that have embraced me and blessed me]...I have long-distance friends who are now local friends having moved to the Boise area 6 years after me!!  I have family who are friends and friends who are like family.  I have friends that I used to work with and friends that  I work out with [love those neighborhood walks].  I have friends who are married and friends who are single...friends who are newlyweds and friends who are empty-nesters...and friends who are, or soon will be, grandparents!  Their lives may look as different from one another, or mine, as the items lining these shelves, but their value in my life is beyond measure.  These friends have comforted and encouraged me, rebuked me and rejoiced with me,  made me laugh and think and shed a few tears.  They have shown me Jesus in their eyes, voice and touch...and I am a better me for having them in my life.

So who is in your Kitchen Cabinet of friends and advisers...who sits around your kitchen table literally or figuratively?  In this time of social media and easy access technology it's easy to feel like we have friends based on a 'like' button or text message...but who do you really allow in...who does the Lord use on a regular basis to shape and mold you?  If your Kitchen Cabinet seems as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's then ask the Lord to fill it.  And if you have a cabinet filled with treasured friends then take some time to let them know that they are valuable to you...invite them for coffee...send them a note via snail mail...thank God for the gals He has blessed you with.

Check later this week for Food 4 Thot.

Serving Him and you,

~Michelle...ApronGirl