One of the things I'm learning in being at home is that in the most mundane tasks, like laundry, can be an opportunity to commune with God. I've heard this so many times before in reading anecdotes about stay-at-home Moms, but I'm finding it to actually be true for myself now - not just an "idea".I get to speak with the living God through Jesus Christ - what a rich privilege! I want to chew on this, meditate on this, and think about this, and get wrapped up in this so much, that all things I do - helping Grace on the potty, cleaning out the grill from our weekend barbeque, organizing clothes, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (again!) - would all become sacred times in which, even in busyness, I can commune with Jesus.
Yesterday I was reading this entry on one of my favorite blogs, GirlTalk. The writer quoted a book about the life of Ruth, and the seemingly mundane or unimportant things in her life and their cosmic and eternal significance.
“God’s purposes for his people is to connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do. Naomi had no idea in the land of Moab that God was making her the ancestor of the Messiah. For the Christian there is always a connection between ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history.
Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant. It is part of a cosmic mosaic that God is painting to display the greatness of his powers and kingdom to the world and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10). A deep satisfaction of the Christian life is that we are not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother in law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby—for the Christian these things are connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem" (p. 121, A Sweet and Bitter Providence - by John Piper)
This quote encourages me to my core. "A deep satisfaction of the Christian life is that we are not given over to trifles." Everything has meaning! With new eyes, I want to dig for meaning savor it, in all of my moments at home.
This is my prayer and my struggle. A lot of times I don't have the right view of what I'm doing. I struggle a lot. Just ask Bill. Today, for the second time, someone suggested I should be a teacher, or go back to college for my master's degree. Nothing wrong with those things at all - I would love to go back to college, I was a huge nerd in college. I'm still a huge nerd, it just manifests itself in different ways now. :) I'm not opposed to the idea of working outside of my home, but right now this is what I feel God is calling me to do. And I'm glad we can afford to live on one income right now - it is an immense privilege. To be here, day in-day out caring for my girlie, training her, and teaching her about Jesus the best that I can. Ouch - just typing that out is convicting. So, so many times I fail to point my daughter to the Lord! Thank God for the mercies of Christ.
Today on my way to Walmart, a store I seem to visit too often, I had a thought that I should be prepared to talk to someone about Jesus. So strange - because this opportunity actually came up. A sweet lady came up to Grace and couldn't stop complimenting her. She said, "God bless" as she walked away, and I asked her if she attends church. It opened the door to a giant conversation about her life, her Mom passing away, raising her sons - this lady hadn't been to church in ages and was searching. She kept telling me how grateful she was that she bumped into me. I smiled, thinking about what the Lord had put on my heart a few minutes before I went in. Nothing, not even an errand to Walmart, is out of the realm of cosmically significant.
