Wednesday, March 18, 2009

What is endless and what isn't

There are some facts of life when it comes to large families.  You will have a larger than average grocery bill, you will dream of driving a convertible but perhaps never own one and you will do a lot of laundry.  A lot of laundry.

On a typical day I do at least three loads of laundry.  I have scheduled my laundry so I do one bedroom at a time and take care of household laundry (towels, kitchen stuff) either in the over night loads or on Saturday.  I strive to never do laundry on Sundays.  It still seems like an endless job.

Today it seemed more endless than ever.  One of my younger children had an accident in the middle of the night so I am also doing extra sheets and blankets, in addition to the scheduled laundry.

As I was folding I caught myself whining a bit - okay, more than a bit.  I listened in as I complained about the amount of laundry, the lunch mess yet to be cleaned up and the dinner soon to be made.  I groused about my oldest who seems to have caught, again, the stomach virus and is in bed trying not to vomit.  The list of my complaints, my endless list of to do's kept piling up and up and up.  My stress level increased.  And while all of this was silently building in my brain I wanted to scream out loud - I have SOOO MUCH TO DO!!!

And then - like a bolt of lightning - came the thought - all that I do, all my tasks are done while He still hangs on the cross.  During Lent we have been focusing on this - His time in the garden, His walk to Calvary, His death on the cross.  A death that is played out all through history until He comes again.  Talk about endless....

It is a part of the mystery of our faith that Christ is continually saving us.   While He has risen from the dead and both rules over us and helps us from heaven, His saving death is still there on the cross on the hill in Jerusalem.  

His act of salvation, his crucifixion remains to save us - save me and save all those yet to be born.  That is an endless duty that He does with love.

This makes my folding the laundry - no matter how many loads - seem pretty pitiful.  

May I look at my jobs as significant but pale in comparison of Christ's.  May I offer all of my daily work up as a small contribution to His great and powerful work of eternity.


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