A New Year's Resolution

The other day my friend shared a quote from GK Chesterton on her Facebook wall. I saw it and new, instantly:

"THIS IS TO BE MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION"!

Chesterton wrote, that we need to learn to "exult in  monotony" as God does.

EXULT IN MONOTONY

The passage my friend shared went on to explain that God did not merely create daisies by putting into motion some blanket and automatic system by which ALL daisies came into being...but rather...that our God delights in monotony...and thereby makes daisy after daisy after daisy...never tiring of delighting us with His creations!

WOW!

To say that this was the perfect thing for me to read as I was pondering what sorts of goals I'd like to set for 2012 would be a tremendous understatement. It was more like God send me a personal note via my friend's FB wall and was saying..."This is for YOU, Judy...this is what I want you to strive for in the New Year".


To be sure, the daily life of a homeschooling mother with 8 of 10 children still at home (or any mother at home, for that matter) contains "MONOTONY".

Time and time again, we get up and we do the same things: Morning chores, school lessons, laundry, scrubbing, cooking, tending to squabbles and bickerings and whinings...wiping up spills, picking things up off of floors, setting the table, doing the dishes, then setting the table again, etc...

If one would list the monotonous set of tasks that the average mother at home does on an average day...someone reading ONLY that might never hope to BE a mother at home, LOL.

We, who live out this challenging, wonderful, blessed, and monotonous vocation...know that there is MUCH more to it than that...though "that" is a big part of what we are called to do over and over and over again.

Wouldn't it be wonderful...wouldn't it be magnificent...wouldn't it be worthwhile...if we would approach this by "EXULTING IN THE MONOTONY" of it all?

Like our Lord and Creator, God...who never tires of making daisies for us...

I resolve to try not to tire of caring for my family in the menial, repetitive, sometimes-seemingly-in-vain tasks and duties of my every day.

I will pray for the grace to see the value and the blessing in ALL of it...each making of the bed, each sweeping of the floor, each reminding to the children to do their work for school and the chores that follow and precede...

Every time we begin again and resolve to serve the Lord by serving our families with a joyful heart, then we are "exulting in the monotony".

The most extraordinary life is the ordinary life of a family.

Mr. Chesterton has reminded me of this with his beautiful writing and I am grateful to my friend for sharing it.

Are you a mother at home?

If so, I hope you will join me in learning to "EXULT IN MONOTONY" and may your New Year be richly blessed!