As a brief recap of my recent brain swirls, I was talking about my struggle to know that my purpose is all around me, right now, in my “mundane” life, and that fulfilling one’s purpose doesn’t happen only when a book is published, a keynote speech is made or a Nobel Peace Prize is won.
As I was thinking about it further, I realized a book, a speaking engagement or a prize is simply the tangible result of the humdrum, mundane, daily life of someone.
After all, a book is made up of words — lots of them — and those words all have to be painstakingly crafted, arranged and rearranged by someone with the task of putting it all together over the course of countless hours. I’m sure there are days when it all seems pointless and a published work seems like only a pipe dream.
Likewise, an outstanding speaker is not borne out of nothing. There must be something he/she had to endure, whether it be lonely, endless study and meditation or a painful & challenging, ongoing life experience. In other words, the minutes of their days and the days of their months and the months of their years passed just as slowly (or quickly) as mine and I’m sure, were accompanied by many moments of seemingly worthless pursuit.
So too the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who toiled for years on a daily basis completing mind-numbingly repetitive or fantastically boring tasks over and over and over again in hopes of discovering or accomplishing something worthwhile. It wasn’t until all of those hundreds or thousands or millions of tasks were heaped into one big, gigantic pile that anyone could see that it resembled something great.
And so it is with all of us.
For me, as a mother, it’s true that the diapers and the snotty noses and the dishes and the laundry (oh, the laundry!) seem to taunt me in their always-present-ness. And truthfully, given my stage in life, the mundanity of it all will continue for a fair number of years to come. And over the course of those years I’ll fail miserably to embrace the present again and again. But I have to remember that each moment of tender love, of genuine patience and authentic selflessness will one day add up to a mounding heap of what I hope will be beautifully-souled, well-grounded, healthy & strong individuals ready to step out on their own and continue God’s plan by fulfilling their own purpose.
It may be mundane, but it’s not meaningless.
This post was included in Your Life, Your Blog over at Real Life. Check it out!
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Very well put!
Beautifully said! It’s so easy to get lost in the monotony of motherhood. Regardless, what we’re doing is important and some day we’ll see the sum of the countless sigh inducing tasks we performed.
Katie’s last blog post..Black Bean-Taco Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
This is so profound, and I totally “get” you! The mundane is profoundly spiritual when we are following what God calls us to. Even if it’s changing our baby’s diaper!
I’m so glad you linked here!
This speaks to me. Thank you so much for writing it. you have no idea how much it was needed.
Corina’s last blog post..Photography, Writing, Life, Love
Great post. I just posted a post today about whether you are defined by your values, your stuff or both that kind of reminds me of some of your points. I just love your last line, it may be mundane, but it’s not meaningless.
Rebecca
@alice
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Only mundane on the surface…. after cleaning that dirty diaper, :- ] just stare at the perfect little child for a few minutes. Take in all the wonder and uniqueness of that child that God formed. The little bits of you, the little bits of your husband. The color of that child’s eyes. The more you look, the less mundane, and the more the Lord and the Holy Spirit can speak to you in those moments. God’s personalized ‘love notes’ are frequently quiet and subtle–miniscule details that easily escape detection but speak volumes when noticed. It’s precisely in our most personal divine encounters–the ones so exclusively ours as to preclude anyone else from partaking fully–that we glimpse God’s profound interest in our unique life.
This made me think of my wife’s favorite quote from Helen Keller “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
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