Faithfulness gets a bad rap. It’s almost synonymous with boring, in my mind.
Terrible, I know. Sorry if I just wrecked an awesome hymn for you.
I naturally prefer flashier words like tenacity or valor. Hustle is pretty popular these days, it gets quite a bit of attention. But, faithfulness? Not quite so catchy.
It’s fitting of our culture, I guess. Things that pack punch are exciting. We like new things and big things. And newer and bigger. Our attention and our conversation goes to the unique, the extraordinary and exceptional.
And then there is faithful.
Who really wants to talk about that?
It’s grinding work. Consistent. Small. It’s quiet work. Sometimes unseen, hardly noticed. It’s tiring work.
It’s work that doesn’t always see the end result, but trusts the process. Faith is hard fought and hard won and to get up and do it all over again the next day is even harder. Yet that is what we are called to.
Each and every one of us are stewards. Of our time and of our money. Of our skills and of the children who call us mom. Of the homes we keep and the jobs we have committed to. We are stewards of our marriages and the promises we made. We are stewards of the hope that is with in us.
And we are called to be faithful with that.
Wow. That’s weighty, huh?
In a world that likes to cut corners and lighten our load, take short cuts, develop fast tracks, and see big gains, can you see why faithfulness doesn’t get much play time?
Being faithful means giving up ultimate control and devoting ourselves to the task at hand. This one day, this one step, right now.
I want big things for my kids. I have ideas for their success and dreams for them to achieve, but what does faithfulness look like today?
For me faithfulness looks like taking the time to train their hearts when I really don’t want to deal with another round of tattle telling. Faithfulness looks like cooking another meal when nothing in the pantry sounds good. Faithfulness looks like keeping my patience when it’s bed time and those kids want one more drink and I’m tired and so ready to be off duty.
Faithfulness looks like reading one more book with my kids rather than escaping on my phone, folding yet another load of laundry when I’d rather be done for the day, keeping a cleaning schedule, working on spelling words, hauling them to ballet and piano and soccer with joy and gratitude that I get to do this job, even when it’s hard and long and I just want to take a nap. This is my job and I am called to be faithful in it.
And so are you, friend.
This is what I’m stewarding everyday. What about you? What are you stewarding?
I still remember my first baby shower. My body was swelling with the baby growing inside of me and I came home with piles of the cutest little clothes I had ever seen. Tiny hats and footie pajamas. So little, barely foldable.
I washed that laundry up carefully, with Dreft, of course. And I stopped just to stare as I folded it up and placed it in drawers, awaiting the little boy who would wear it all. That laundry felt magical.
And 10 years later I’m drowning in grass stains and ballet tights with runs in them. Sometimes its even ballet tights with grass stains on them. Kids are awesome that way.
The laundry doesn’t feel so magical anymore. But I’m called to be faithful. Doing it well, everyday.
These jobs we have, they are more important than we often realize. These are the things we are called to steward. This is the life we are growing and the character we are fortifying. Every day we get to choose how it will be done. Even when the magic wears off, we are called to be faithful.
I’m convinced this is what authentic courage looks like. Courage is doing the small and diligent every bit as well as the big and flashy. Courage is knowing that the little things matter and persevering even when it feels like they don’t. Courage is setting priorities with the long term in mind yet being faithful in the short term and every term in between.
Choose wisely, friends. What we are doing with our days, it matters.
Praying we will all keep this in mind and go about our work faithfully today, in honor of the One who is truly faithful.
This post is linked up at Grace and Truth. Check it out for more great encouragement!
Wow, I think this post highlights exactly what I was talking about in my last entry, How to be Sane, Physically. I wasn’t even alluding to prayer and Christianity but I’m glad to see that God was speaking to me in a sense. I literally just wrote without thinking and it’s like He put the words on paper for me–or on keyboard? Anyways, great post. Thanks for further underscoring the magical works of God in my life.
My favorite quote: “Courage is setting priorities with the long term in mind yet being faithful in the short term and every term in between.”
And here’s my blog post if you’re curious:
http://www.blossomthecreativist.com/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-physically/
Isnt it amazing how God meets us right where we are? So glad you stopped by Blossom!
Katie, such wise words you have shared here. I love this here: “Courage is doing the small and diligent every bit as well as the big and flashy. Courage is knowing that the little things matter and persevering even when it feels like they don’t.” I completely agree! It’s that humble obedience in what seems so very mundane that teaches us what it means to be a Christ-follower. Thank you for sharing with us over at Grace and Truth last week!
Jen 🙂
My pleasure, Jen. And thank you for your kind words. Motherhood, as wonderful as it is, has also provided me with plenty of opportunity for faithfulness in the not so glamorous moments. 😉 Thank so much for stopping by!
This spoke so deeply to me. Did you know that the last two years of parenting have been tough? So tough. I have a 4.5 year old that’s bound to never find her way out of the terrible two’s. Every day is hard. This awesome life that the Lord has blessed me with (the one I prayed for through infertility 5 years ago) has become the mundane and I’m failing at the faithfulness part I swore to all those years ago.
Thank you for reminding me to be faithful right here in this season. You blessed me.
I’ll be featuring you at Grace & Truth this week. I hope you’ll join us again.
Christie
This is so nice to hear, Christie. Thank you. Infertility can be such a heavy weight because after all the hard waiting, when we do end up with a baby and it’s not a fairly tale (it’s more like…real life) the guilt is compounding. Keep pressing on! I’m so glad these words reached you. I’m trying to be faithful in the every day right along with you. 🙂
And thanks so much for sharing this post. I’m honored!
Alli can say is Wow! I am going to have to read this a few more times just to unpack all the good nuggets of wisdom in here!
Thank you for your kind words, Michelle! Faithfulness is no small challenge, but it helps be reminded that it really does matter.
I think when I “faithfully” accepted my teaching job I thought the tediums would disappear. Nope. The sun is just at a different angle or non-existant….thank you for this encouragement.
Love this so much. Yes. Faithfulness seems boring. It is constant, ever there. Always the same. At that is this mothering. Always there. At it takes so much faithfulness. Because this thing we are doing is big and real and oh so important. It is people shaping. It is world changing. I love this verse in Deuteronomy 31:23 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall being the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.” We need to be courageous because each day we are bringing our children into this land. Into God’s word. And what’s best is that God is with us in all we are doing. And He’s the most faithful.
Beautiful thoughts, Ashley! And I love that verse. Here is to being faithful, even when it seems a little boring. 😉