Hidden moments are significant...

In this social media/Internet age we live so many of life's moments can be visible for all to see.   It is usually our 'best' that we post.  I have written before about how it's human nature to want to only post our "best of the best".  I am guilty of it too; especially as someone with perfectionist tendencies.  

But being a mother is a messy job.  Real life is messy.  Children are messy.  Marriage is messy.  It is reality.  And our faithfulness to be obedient to God's calling as a mother and wife requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice.  And so much of the hard work and sacrifice is done in the 'hidden moments of life'.  

I am not suggesting we should be posting all of life's moments on the Internet, ideal or messy.  I do believe there is still a place for privacy.  However, I think we need to remember that so often the work we do for our children, our husbands, our own lives, goes unseen.  This does not mean that the work we do is insignificant.  I want to remind us all that things do not have to be posted on the Internet in order for them to be significant.  

The messy faces and hands you wipe clean after meals, the band-aids you place on 'boo-boos', the stories you read, the teenage tempers you settle, the lunches you make, the laundry you wash, the dishes you clean...it is all for God's glory.  Jesus showed God's grace and love through sacrifice and service.  The daily service and sacrifice you make in the 'hidden moments' of life are significant and are making a mark on eternity.

I am reading through Sally Clarkson's Own Your Life again and this time I am using the study guide and planner with it.  This book came out in January of 2015 and it is one of the best books I have ever read.  I think I read it in three weeks.  I could not put it down.  

The ideas Sally presents in Own Your Life are so inspiring and refreshing.  Now I want to go back through and spend more detailed time soaking in the wisdom and being more prayerful about how God wants me to 'own' my life.  

In the opening pages of the book Sally makes this statement, 

Lasting love and influence for the gospel happen in the hidden moments of life when only God sees my heart and my faithfulness.

I believe many of us want to be a voice of change in our world.  A change for better.  But we often feel we will not be able to make a difference without some big platform.  This is false ideology.

One thing I am learning through Sally Clarkson's writings, and digging deeper into God's word, is that we can make a difference in our world no matter where we are or what our circumstances.  God has equipped each of us with unique desires, strengths, and talents.  And He has placed us right where we are for a purpose and He has the ability to use us to make a difference in our world.  The key is we have to be willing and available.
 
For the first few years of my first child's life I was fighting against obedience to God.  I thought I could have it all and do it all.  That I could be the superwoman I had been told I could be.  That I could have the successful career, a strong marriage, well-trained children, and be personally healthy and stable.

However, all the pressures and stresses on my life became too much for me to handle.  I soon realized I was attempting something humanly impossible and honestly, working against God's will for my own life.  My life was a heaping pile of chaos and I was on the verge of a major breakdown.

By the grace of God my life took a major turn.  God removed my desire to have the successful career I had dreamed about for so many years.  About a month after I sold my business God said 'I am blessing you again'...and I became pregnant with our second child.

After being rescued from the pending major breakdown, I resolved to surrender my life to Him who gives me the very breath I breathe.  ​I realized my calling was not outside my home, but inside.  My calling was now to devote the majority of my time and talents to my children, my marriage, and my home.  Many people I love and care about were confused with my decision.  I had some tell me that I was giving up "so much potential".

Now, going on three years of being a full time homemaker, mama, and wife I know this is where God wants me at this season of my life.  I still love working on things other than homemaking, training children and serving my husband and children.  It's one reason I started this blog.  However, I know that things outside of my primary calling of motherhood and marriage need to take a back seat in my life.  

I am learning to appreciate the significance of the hidden moments of life and cultivate the joy God desires for me to have.  God desires for you to have joy too.  To make a mark on eternity right where you are.  

​Are you embracing your circumstances or fighting against them?  What hidden moments in your life can you reflect on today?  

If you want to know more about Sally Clarkson and her ministry click here.  If you have not read Own Your Life, I highly recommend it.