Tasked...with love

"Let all your things be done with charity." I Corinthians 16:14

Good morning, ladies!

France is, as you may have heard, a country of strikes.  When things do not happen the way workers want, they randomly shut down public transportation, schools, businesses, airports.  Sometimes you are warned ahead of time.  Sometimes you show up at the appointed time, at the correct location, to find that the service you need just will not be attended to that day.  Désolé, Madame.

I think my laundry fairy, dishwashing fairy, floor mopping fairy, and ironing fairy must be French.  I can't find them anywhere, and there is work to be done.

I need to put on my big girl panties and get to work.

But I can't.  They're in the wash, along with every other article of clothing in this house.

SIGH

I am not an obsessive housekeeper.  I like things to be fairly orderly, and excessive clutter does drive me crazy.  Keeping house in France however is another category entirely.  French ladies on the whole are very particular about their neatness.  They mop their tile floors religiously.  They unclutter countertops and iron their dish towels (and just about every other article of clothing.)

Do you know what the French word is for being obsessive about cleaning?

Maniaque.  As in, maniac.  Enough said.

Some days, the day to day tasks seem overwhelming, don't they?  Many times the everyday sameness of life--washing dishes, caring for children, cleaning the house, fixing meals, preparing clothes--are not in themselves difficult jobs.  I have the luxury of vacuum cleaners, clothes dryers, steam irons and every conceivable help with the push of a button.

The burden for me many times is not so much in the DOING of the tasks, but WANTING to do the tasks.  

The Bible verse at the top of this blog is a great reminder to me:  "Let all your things be done with charity."  Not just the things that are easy, or enjoyable.  Like many verses that refer to my attitude, this is a choice that I make, a conscious decision to accomplish whatever my things happen to be for that day with the right mindset.

The motivation is there as well:  I should do all my things with charity.  I'll leave the deep Greek studies to my husband and other scholars, but I know this Greek word is agape, the self-sacrificial God love that only wants the best for the other person.  This love puts the needs of others above my own desires.  This is the love that compelled Jesus to die on the cross.

I don't have to love doing the dishes, or the ironing, or any other task that God allows me to do today.  I do need to see myself as an instrument of God's love to my family and the others for whom I will labor today.  Not only will the job get done, but I will receive the reward of serving my Lord as well.

Time to get to work.