My main ministry (Part 2)
As I shared in my previous post, I sometimes find myself feeling that I should be doing more..... Sometimes I wonder what I am accomplishing with my life by being a stay-at-home wife and Mom, a homeschooling Mom, a missionary wife and Mom....... I do lots of little tasks throughout the day, and sometimes, it feels like the day doesn't amount to much.
If I'm not careful, I can find myself lying in bed at the end of the day wondering what I did with the last 14 hours of my life..... some days, I feel like I accomplished more than on other days, but what if feeding and clothing and teaching and cleaning really IS a big accomplishment in the grand scheme of things?
In his book 'Mastering Life Before It's Too Late', Robert J. Morgan writes in Chapter 23, "I'm convinced we're too enamored of the dramatically big when most of life is blessedly small. Sometimes we mistakenly equate smallness with insignificance, but that's an indictment against God's wisdom in planning our ways."
In God's eyes (and my husband's eyes) the seemingly menial tasks that I do day in and day out are a blessing. These tasks take time and effort and (in the case of homeschooling) great perseverance! Robert Morgan also points out in his book, "We complete major tasks through small, persistent increments." Here is a prime example: when we started our school year last August, our son (age 8) was not reading and was still working on letter sounds. After switching to a phonics program (along with persistence on my part and the listening ear of his Dad and grandparents and anyone else who would take the time to hear his struggling reading), he now enjoys checking out books from the library because he can actually read them for himself! And as his teacher, I have the joy of watching the frustration turn to delight as he reads more and more things on his own and begins to appreciate the world that can be discovered in the pages of a good book.
In the end, it all comes down to this question: Who am I doing this for? Am I doing it for me, to fulfill some need or desire to be seen and appreciated by the world? Or am I doing this for God and for His glory and because I want to bless my family? At the conclusion of the chapter, Robert Morgan offers this encouragement, "When we go about our Father's business, whatever it is, He creates through us a ripple effect stretching to the shores of eternity."
My heart's desire is to be faithful in teaching and raising my children so that God can use my 'menial' tasks to create a ripple effect that stretches to the shores of eternity. May I be joyfully faithful as I go about accomplishing the work that He has given me to do!
If I'm not careful, I can find myself lying in bed at the end of the day wondering what I did with the last 14 hours of my life..... some days, I feel like I accomplished more than on other days, but what if feeding and clothing and teaching and cleaning really IS a big accomplishment in the grand scheme of things?
In his book 'Mastering Life Before It's Too Late', Robert J. Morgan writes in Chapter 23, "I'm convinced we're too enamored of the dramatically big when most of life is blessedly small. Sometimes we mistakenly equate smallness with insignificance, but that's an indictment against God's wisdom in planning our ways."
In God's eyes (and my husband's eyes) the seemingly menial tasks that I do day in and day out are a blessing. These tasks take time and effort and (in the case of homeschooling) great perseverance! Robert Morgan also points out in his book, "We complete major tasks through small, persistent increments." Here is a prime example: when we started our school year last August, our son (age 8) was not reading and was still working on letter sounds. After switching to a phonics program (along with persistence on my part and the listening ear of his Dad and grandparents and anyone else who would take the time to hear his struggling reading), he now enjoys checking out books from the library because he can actually read them for himself! And as his teacher, I have the joy of watching the frustration turn to delight as he reads more and more things on his own and begins to appreciate the world that can be discovered in the pages of a good book.
In the end, it all comes down to this question: Who am I doing this for? Am I doing it for me, to fulfill some need or desire to be seen and appreciated by the world? Or am I doing this for God and for His glory and because I want to bless my family? At the conclusion of the chapter, Robert Morgan offers this encouragement, "When we go about our Father's business, whatever it is, He creates through us a ripple effect stretching to the shores of eternity."
My heart's desire is to be faithful in teaching and raising my children so that God can use my 'menial' tasks to create a ripple effect that stretches to the shores of eternity. May I be joyfully faithful as I go about accomplishing the work that He has given me to do!
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