I have a secret to confess - I'm not much of a homemaker. It doesn't really come naturally to me at all. In fact, when my husband and I were dating, I informed him that I planned to travel all over the world (still waiting on that one) and that I didn't really know how to cook, clean or do laundry. Not only that, I wasn't all that interested in learning, so if he was looking for Betty Crocker, he was barking up the wrong tree.
Yes, I know - I was quite the catch! lol
In our early married life, I remember telling a good friend of mine very excitedly that I had "made dinner." She just looked at me and said, "Don't you do that every night?" She received a blank stare. For me, it was a big achievement. My poor husband - either he was a guinea pig for my various cooking experiments (and I use that word quite literally), or he was forced to make do with McDonalds.
The thing is, after I started having kids, I realized I needed to get a handle on things like laundry and a regular cleaning schedule and yes, cooking on a regular basis. Over the years, I've learned to enjoy cooking (although I still tend to experiment WAY more than my family of manly meat and potato types want me to), but running a household still doesn't come naturally to me, and I've never learned to enjoy cleaning a toilet.
I still struggle to meal plan and keep on top of our financial budget - let's face it, I became an English major for a reason! Math and I are not good friends.
The thing is though, God wants me to succeed at taking care of my family. It made sense to me to ask God for help before teaching a Sunday school lesson or before I put my fingers on the keyboard to write an article. These seemed like tasks that God would want to be involved in - you know, "important things."
But I've learned something. God wants to be involved in every area of my life, not just the things I consider big or important. You know, things like laundry or learning the fine art of getting groceries for less.
So, do I pray about those things? I didn't used to, but I do now. I recognize that my gifts don't lend themselves to finding the best buy on butter and matching it with a coupon. Keeping track of columns of numbers aren't really my thing. Heck, just balancing my checkbook can be a challenge sometimes. (and yes, I'm the type to just let it go if I can't figure out why my balance and the banks differs by a few dollars). I am not naturally organized.
But by taking care of the finances, I give my husband the gift of not having to worry about those things. He can trust me to take care of it and that's one less thing on his plate.
By cooking healthy meals, keeping up with the laundry, and regularly cleaning our home, I give my kids the gift of a peaceful retreat from the harsh world. I realize that throw pillows won't make or break a household, but if the whole place is cluttered and nobody can find anything, that disrupts everyone's peace - particularly if you are trying to get out the door in the morning and the soccer cleats or practice jersey are nowhere to be found.
I've learned that God dwells with me in the mundane.
He sees these quiet, often thankless tasks (which nobody ever seems to notice unless you don't do them, right?) as my way of serving my family.
So many times, I look around our world and think, "I should be doing more - more volunteering, more ministering, more Christian service," but by being faithful in the small things for my own family, God looks at me and says, "Well done."
A woman on a mom's board I frequent, recently posted about a woman at her Bible study saying that she wouldn't ever dream of wasting her gifts and abilities on just being a mom and a wife. As you can imagine, on a board of mostly stay at home moms, many women were a bit riled by this.
Mostly though, it just made me sad. Sad that this woman completely missed her first and most important ministry - the one to her family. There are a lot of needs out in the world, and God may very well have called you to meet some of those needs. However, there is nobody else who can be your kids' mom. There's nobody else who can be your husband's wife.
We have a unique calling that starts in our home. By inviting God into our mundane, He can make it holy.
So, I am going to challenge you (as I myself recently), to look at the things you do for your family, much of which you probably don't even think about, as not just daily tedium, but as showing God's love in very practical ways.
What mundane task do you need to invite God into?
~ Blessings, Bronte
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