Thursday, January 28, 2016

Quiet and simple.


I love Jennie Allen's post on the one lie that will shut you down

It so speaks to this season of mothering littles. But it also speaks to anyone else who hears the lie that if it isn't big- it doesn't matter.

This picture so sums up my days right now. And you can't see the two lingering dogs that couldn't fit in the frame. Or the pile of laundry. Or the aftermath of a sink that overflowed because I lost track of it while tending to something else. I spend 95% of my days managing these kiddos and those dogs and this house. And I really love it. No one sees how many times I pick up MegaBloks or put away laundry or teach my toddler his alphabet or get my newborn to smile- and that's ok.

In the first few months of staying home after leaving my social work job when Caleb was born, I struggled a lot with this. With feeling like I was doing ggg less important work. That I wasn't influencing anyone, that my platform was so much smaller. And then I stumbled on 1 Thess 4:11...

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands.”

 I’ve been mulling over that verse and the idea behind it for months now. When I think of the women I most admire, I realize that they are ones who live that out. They aren’t trendy women on instagram who have thousands of followers or popular books. {but there’s nothing wrong with that!} They aren’t loud about their life and what they’re up to our their accomplishments. They are women who, with their quiet life, have unintentionally made a huge impact around themselves. Do you know women like that? Who love their God so well and are just rooted deeply in Scripture? Who value family and hospitality and love others well? They usually have no idea anyone would look up to them or that they are even influential. Because they aren’t focused on that.

I love Jennie’s words about this…

May we desire to be helpful rather than important.
May we see individuals and not follower numbers.
May we seek to make God’s name great and not our own.

 I play those words on repeat in my head these days. When I’m giving one kid a bath and trying to keep the other from melting down. When I’m discouraged about my impact through Noonday collection compared to others. When I don’t get much else done in a day besides keeping kids alive and making supper. When I find myself pulled between loving this season so much but longing to do social work again.

1 Thess. 4:11 is the springboard for every goal and hope I have in 2016. May I really and truly desire to be helpful and to see individuals and to make God’s name great-while not busying myself with things that distract from that.







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