Thursday Thoughts with Theresa: "For When This is All There is"

Is this it? Is this all there is? Laundry, dishes, and cleaning toilets; changing diapers, wiping bottoms, and spilled messes -- day after day?

And what's more repetitive than laundry and dishes is the disciplining and training of hearts and minds that naturally bend toward self.

The job is never complete and the affirmation can seem non-apparent.

Yet, when I settle into this – this right here – the hard, the mundane, and the repetitive;

when I accept it as my sacrifice, it becomes my joy.

And through the hard and mundane, it's the snuggles, giggles, and kisses goodnight; playfulness, laughter, and kindness that are my sources of affirmation, as a mother.

And I delight in them.

I delight in watching my children splash, squeal, and cannon ball right into the air pumped pool, on a hot summer day.

I delight in the discoveries of fallen acorns, changing colors of the trees and jumping in the brittle fallen leaves on a brisk, Autumn day.

I delight in watching my children build snowmen, make snow angels and even more, joining in on a snowball fight on a cold, snowy day.

I delight in introducing opportunity to my children and then watching them discover it.

I delight in the moments I can sit back and just inhale who they are and who I see them becoming.

I receive these affirmations daily when I open my eyes to see.

And if I ever find myself wanting more of something, I've learned to look no further than what is right before me. I've learned to travel, not further, but deeper to see all there is – seeking deeper love, deeper gratitude, and deeper joy in the here and now.

Because this is it. These are the moments that matter.

Because at the heart of washing clothes, dishes and bottoms is devotion, and at the heart of discipline and training is belief.

And that is all we ever really need.

- Theresa Miller, MOPS Mom

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2, NIV

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2, The Message

Theresa is a wife and mother of four children (3, 5, 7, and 9), who are embarking on their first year of homeschooling. Theresa has been involved in Sheridan MOPS for the last 9 ½ years, serving in multiple leadership positions, including Day MOPS Coordinator in 2007-2008. She took one year off, then started the Sheridan Evening MOPS group in September 2009. Theresa has published an article with MOPS International MOMSnext Ezine, in addition to other on-line publications. You can find Theresa encouraging mothers on her blog, Heavenly Glimpses.