As your host At The Well this week, I have chosen the topic of Arise and Shine: Being an Exceptional Mother in the Midst of the Ordinary. I invite you to post your own thoughts, using the discussion questions as a guide, on your own blog. Make sure to use Mr. Linky (below) and post a comment on my blog! I'd LOVE to hear from you!
~ Lisa Metzger
1. What daily tasks seem mundane or monotonous to you?
2. How can we change our outlook when completing these tasks?
3. What impact do these tasks have on our husband and children? How does it make a difference in their lives?
4. Is it okay to focus on earthly recognition when completing these tasks for our loved ones, or is receiving an eternal reward sufficient? Which does Jesus think is more important? Shouldn’t that be our focus, as well?
Homeschool mothers can most assuredly relate to the feelings that come from drudgery. The days are long and tedious. The success that comes of the toil sometimes goes unseen for months, maybe even years. Our lives seem downright plain and ordinary. Our work goes unnoticed. Our existence remains unobserved. Life can become commonplace. Where do we go from here? How can we keep going from day to day?
Oswald Chambers said, “Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character.” A touchstone is defined as “a hard black stone, such as jasper, formerly used to test the quality of gold or silver by comparing the streak left on the stone by one of these metals with that of a standard alloy.” A touchstone is a gauge, which is used to test the quality of a precious metal in comparison to a commonplace metal. During our times of drudgery, do we want to show our character as being that of pure gold or as a mixture of commonplace metals? I would much rather present myself to Jesus as gold - experiencing the ordinary, rather than being ordinary.
The truth is that our feelings of inadequacy overpower us when we fail to see God’s handiwork in the smallest details of our everyday lives. We wait for God to show us the extraordinary thing for which we have been laboring. We look for Him to guide us to our pinnacle of success so that we can, then, give Him the glory. We should be giving Him the glory throughout the mundane tasks that are before us each day. It is when we are in the valley - between the pinnacles of success - that we see where we have been and how far He has led us.
Jesus stepped down from His heavenly domain and meekly washed His disciple’s feet. In turn, let us walk the path of humility that He has placed before us. We are not so admirable that we deserve the praiseworthy work rather than what Jesus has given us to accomplish. His plan is perfect and we must accept the plan, no matter how ordinary that plan may seem. Seeing the exceptional within the ordinary, makes the mundane extraordinary.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the Glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
Isaiah 60:1
The Glory of God is upon you on the mountain tops of success and in the valleys of the commonplace. Take your place; accept your calling; place your feet firmly on the path; look toward the goal; arise and shine!
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Posted by
Ashley @ Putting God First Place 
Oct. 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Thanks for a soul searching topic this week. My sweet husband preached a marvelous sermon tonight on "working for Christ" - he reminded us to not become weary - don't become weary doing His work, the reward awaits us. Great to see you AT THE WELL today.
Laurie
womentakingastand.blogspot.com