Dishes.
Changing diapers.
Picking up toys.
Breaking up fights.
Preparing meals.
I may do all of these things on a daily basis, but I am super passionate about any of them? Granted, I am extremely BLESSED to be a wife and mother. I realize I am BLESSED to be able to stay home with my young girls and spend each day with them. I understand I am BLESSED to be doing all these things, but if I am honest, I am not exactly passionate about the individual tasks on my to-do list each day. Put them all together, and I AM passionate about my role as a wife and mother. Wouldn't trade that for the world. Being a wife and mother has been my dream for the longest time. I remember praying late into the night with my closest frriends in college, asking God to fulfill our dreams of being married and having kids. He has certainly done that, and more. So, yes, I am BLESSED and thankful.
YET, those mundane things I HAVE to do daily are not exactly flooding my heart with joy and happiness and passion. I can't not do them though. Well, I could forgo those responsibilities for a few days, but I don't think that would have a very pretty outcome...
If my life day in and day out is not all I had hoped, does that mean I am in the wrong place, that I need to change how I "do" life? NO!!! Well, not exactly...
I am 100% confident I am right where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what God has called me to do. I AM living out my dreams. I AM fulfilling the plans and purposes for which I was created. BUT, in order to do that, I have to dig past the piles of laundry, push through the dirty diapers, and look beyond the "ordinary" things I am doing over and over and over day after day after day. To truly become the wife, the mother, the friend, the neighbor, the WOMAN I was created to be, I have to look for God in the midst of the mundane. And He is there to be found. I just have to open my eyes and see Him. I have to tune my ears and listen and hear Him. As I do, my perspective will change. So will my entire life...
You see, living a passionate, purposeful life starts with HOW YOU VIEW LIFE.
We can't separate life into the sacred and secular.
There are no boxes.
EVERYTHING is about God.
God is in all things.
And all things are to be done for His glory and honor.
Paul reminds us of that in his letter to the Colossians, "And WHATEVER you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to Him through God the Father."
He actually repeats this concept just a few short verses later, "Work WILLINGLY at WHATEVER you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ."
That WHATEVER includes picking up toys (the same ones for the millionth time). It includes changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night to take someone to the bathroom, changing sheets because you didn't get there in time. It includes folding laundry and washing dishes and preparing meals and driving everyone to their activities. It includes writing thank you notes, paying the bills, buying groceries, scrubbing toilets, singing Old MacDonald for the 100th time, reading Good Night Moon so many times you have the book memorized and don't even need to turn the pages but do so your kids think you are actually pyaing attention as you "read." It includes ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you do on a daily basis, whether it fills you with joy or dread. It means WHATEVER you do.
The catch is all in HOW you go about doing the WHATEVER.
Are you doing it out of obligation?
Or because you enjoy it?
Is it a HAVE to or a WANT to?
Passionate, purposeful living is rooted in this right here.
It is understanding and accepting that EVERYTHING is a mission field.
Your cubicle.
The grocery store.
The gym.
The people next door, even the neighbors with the unmowed grass and random tires in their backyard. Especially those neighbors.
Your family. Yes, even the cousins who annoy you to the core. Especially those cousins.
EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is your mission field.
God has put you where you are for a reason.
You have purpose.
You were created to do good things.
God puts dreams and desires in your heart.
He then gives you the faith to carry them out.
And as you BELIEVE and act on those promptings, those stirrings, those whispers in your ear, you will be bringing massive amounts of glory to God...
Paul assures us of this. Indeed, it was his very prayer for the believers in Thessalonica,
"So we keep on praying for you,
asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call.
May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.
Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live,
and you will be honored along with Him.
This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ."
I was reminded of this foundational truth - that PERSPECTIVE is everything as we set out to live passionate, purposeful lives - as I listened to a CD of Christine Caine speaking. I ever so grateful to my friend Holly for sending those CDs to me in the mail. That package is changing my life. In sharing what I am learning and how I am growing, I hope you too are encouraged and challenged and inspired. I pray you too choose to pursue God with every fiber of your being, that you commit to following after Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, that you LONG for Him above all else, and ultimately that you are filled with joy and peace and strength and power and love as you pour yourself out for our Jesus (because He will keep on refilling you and you'll never be empty again).
Caine reminded me how we so often confuse the supernatural and the spectacular. People are looking all around for the spectacular. The bigger, the better. In fact, if it's not big, it's not worth their time or energy. If you don't have something BIG to back up your claims or something BIG to prove your way is the best, then people sadly aren't going to listen. And they will miss out on what God is doing...
You see, God is NOT about the spectacular. Yes, He can do some spectacular things. Parting the Red Sea was pretty amazing. Restoring sight to a blind man is incredible. Raising someone back to life is downright miraculous. So, God CAN do the spectacular. And He does. BUT, that's NOT His heart. Nope. He is more about the SUPERNATURAL than anything.
Recognizing, and understanding, the difference is crucial to living a passionate, purposeful life.
If we get caught up in watching for the spectacular, we don't see the supernatural things God is doing everyday, all around us. When I realize this, I remember that God is in the midst of EVERYTHING, and thus NOTHING is a waste of time. Sweeping and mopping and vaccuuming take on a whole new meaning. Changing diapers, picking up toys, breaking up fights, playing board games, crunching numbers, waving at the neighbor, smiling at the store clerk. They all have meaning. Purpose. And they can all be done with passion.
For only as we see God in the mundane will He fully reveal Himself in bigger ways.
Only as we commit to doing the "little" things well will God entrust us with the "bigger" things.
As we develop an attitude of trust and faith and surrender in our daily lives, God will lead us deeper into His truth, asking us to come out on the water with Him. When He does, we will be ready to get out of the boat, to walk on the water, to follow wherever He leads, do whatever He asks.
Back to my original lists of daily to-do's.
Laundry.Dishes.
Changing diapers.
Picking up toys.
Breaking up fights.
Preparing meals.
While they may not appear to be doing anything to help me fulfill my dreams or accomplish my big life goals, I must not forget they are exactly what I am to be doing. Indeed, they are the stepping stones, showing the way on this path God has carefully and lovingly prepared for me. Each task has meaning, purpose. And so I must commit to doing them with passion.
My life does not end there, though.
Rather, this is simply the beginning.
The door opening to much more...
Writing books
Speaking engagements
Touching countless lives all around the world
Inspiring other mamas
Encouraging tired, weary souls
Helping lift downtrodden faces, raising their bleak eyes to Jesus where they stare hope, peace, joy, love in the face
Carrying the faint of heart and laying them at the feet of Jesus, placing them in His arms so He can embrace them with His strength and faithfulness and goodness and grace
I truly believe God has called me to do those things.
And it excites me.
A lot (yes, those two little words are FAR overused, but I don't know how else to put it)
A WHOLE lot (there is that better?!)
I know I was made for all that, and more.
But I must not forget that I am also made for the "mundane" - the laundry, the dishes, the dirty diapers, the meals, the errands, etc.
My daily life may not be glamorous, but it is definitely purposeful.
Thus, I will do it ALL with passion.
As I do, I am beyond excited to see how God "gives me the desires of my heart."
As I come to DELIGHT in Him in ALL things, I know He will do more than I can even begin to imagine or dare to dream possible (Psalm 37; Ephesians 3:20)!
Won't you join me?
What is God calling you to do RIGHT NOW?
Who is He calling you to be?
May we do those things well, and watch and see what happens as God leads us, flings open doors, and shows us the amazing things He has planned for us...
"No eye has seen,
No ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love Him."
~1 Corinthians 2:9
YES!!!
And so...
May we live for God EACH day in ALL things.
May we serve Him out of a WANT TO rather than a HAVE TO attitude.
May we remember THAT is what passionate, purposeful living is really all about!
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