How to Shine

My husband laughs at me whenever I tell him what I think about while I weed the garden, do the laundry, or in the most recent case, clean the toilets. He says, "Who thinks about that while they clean the bathroom?" I say, "I do. So there must be other people. I'm not that original." Here was my thought while on my knees in the bathroom, wiping down the sides and underbelly of the childrens' toilet, holding my breath and trying to work quickly. Why is it that the grossest, most humbling jobs of taking care of our household seem to require that we be on our knees? It is a posture that forces a humble attitude. Some people do not stoop to clean toilets. They pay someone to do it. I know, because I cleaned houses for a time, a very humbling experience. So now, in cleaning my own family's bathrooms, when I find myself on my knees, my thoughts wander from what I am doing to the humble posture. I have heard others talk about the holy calling of motherhood, and what a sacred work we do in raising a generation to follow Jesus. They don't generally talk about toilets. But I'm going to, for just a minute longer. On my knees, whether cleaning the bathroom, scrubbing food off of the floor below the high chair, cleaning spilled soda off of the living room rug, or wiping up the wood floor after my naked toddler decided to mark his territory before the bath, I have a chance to be grumbling or thankful. There is a lot of dirty work mixed into this sacred calling, and we are the ones holding the sponge. We can complain about the spills, the stains, the mess, or we can thank God for this family we've been entrusted with. We can take the opportunity, while already on our knees, to ask God for help in displaying his great love and care to our family. We can, as my mom said of my grandpa, who served for years as a Christian camp manager, choose not to distinguish between the secular and the sacred, and do all our work to the glory of God. Dishes, laundry, dinners, and bathing little ones are all sacred work when we allow God's love to shine through us as we serve our families. Philippians 2:14-16 says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."