Photo By: Beth Waggoner
When Life Gives You Laundry
I have found it extra hard lately to take a moment to type out a post to share with you all. I so badly want to encourage or inspire in each post and the chaos of this earthly life has pressed in hard the last several weeks to threaten any hope of me doing that for you.
There are some weeks/months where I feel like life has me in a box where all four walls are slowly pressing in on me. For a girl who is claustrophobic, this only brings out anxiety and stress in me😨😁. With an ongoing health battle, the winter blues setting in (summer girl over here), and the day to day jobs and demands of being a mom, wife and pastor’s wife; Satan has a way of trying to suck our joy (yes even with the good things in our lives), and make us feel enclosed in a box. And it's here where we can so easily get stuck into looking too much at our own pain or struggles and lose sight of the simple day to day blessings God is laying before us. These everyday things can bring us straight INTO His presence and yet it’s those very things that all too often distract me FROM His presence.
A couple months ago I began reading a book called One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. In it she was challenged by a friend to write down 1000 things she is thankful for. The Lord has used this book to remind me what thankfulness can actually look like on the day to day from the things greatest in wonder to the very mundane of everyday tasks. And how the very act of hour by hour thankfulness can bring me directly into the presence of God.
These may seem like simple words to you but I have found them oh so powerful and for me, they came just at the right time for my soul to hear.
As I got out my little notebook to start writing down my thanks, I thought to myself “I got this! I will be to 1000 things in no time and then I will be so quick and good at giving thanks in all things that I will just keep going and I will fill many notebooks and….”
Ha!! My bubble quickly got popped on that one😁. I began daily writing down my thanks and after a while felt like I had written down hundreds if not one thousand things already. But the number in my notebook said otherwise. I looked down to see how far I had come to stare straight at #72. “That's it?”, I thought. Only 72 items of thanks? And I thought I was doing so well.
In that moment I realized how many things that were passing me by each day that I was not seeing as thanks or that I was choosing not to be thankful for because they seemed like the monotonous things of life that often distracted me from being thankful.
As I reflect back on what I am learning through the process of writing down my thanks, as well as what I still need to continue to learn and remind myself of moving forward I am challenged and encouraged by Psalm 136:3-7:
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skilfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights
His faithful love endures forever.”
Photo By: Beth Waggoner
Why would I not offer daily thanks to God who skillfully created and placed all the details of this world around me and who alone does mighty miracles? The only One whose love is faithful (never changing despite our ups and downs). The only One whose love endures forever (through the chaos of the day to day, through the uncertainty of the world around us).
And yet how easily I forget this in the mundane of each moment.
To some degree we all know that it's good and healthy to be thankful for the things around us. Especially as Thanksgiving approaches we are thinking about it more and we remind ourselves to give thanks more often. But what happens when the holidays are over and we are faced with the the day to day tasks, hardships, pressures, jobs, joys, stresses? Do we give thanks even then?
Piles of laundry to fold, unending dishes to clean, 3 kiddos to feed (who are never full), a meeting to be at (with all my kids in tow😅), a house that needs some part of it clean, a full plate of ministry, a husband who needs encouragement and love, kiddos who are hungry again? Soccer and dance practice tonight. Which class am I volunteering in today? Reading God’s Word while my daughter asks me for a snack (even though she just ate breakfast 5 minutes ago), and my youngest wants me to hold him. But God don't you want me to have time with you? I look at the clock and see that it's only 10:00am😨😨.
Does any of that sound familiar? Just pieces of a normal crazy morning and yet already filled with so much that can pull me away from giving thanks to God.
We often think of the big and the obvious things to be thankful for when asked. But one of the things I was encouraged to do from the book is to give thanks about the simple, monotonous things because that is everyday life.
I realized that as I began writing thanks about the simple, everyday things and actually stopped to consider them, that it not only changed my perspective on them but it pulled my mind to Christ as well. It naturally drew me into that intimate time with God that I craved simply by thanking Him for the things all around me. Does this sound like a “duh” moment? Or an easy thing to start for you? My encouragement to you is to try it out for yourself and see where God might stretch you.
And as you do I hope it becomes what it has for me:
-An act of worship (praising Him in all things).
-An act of communion with God (dwelling on thanks in each moment)
-An everyday act that encourages and inspires you as you glorify Him in the moment.
So find a little journal and join in on the journey with me of finding thanks in the chaos!!
Below are some journal entries I have written down to give you an idea of what finding thanks in the everyday might look like.
#18. dance parties with the kiddos
#27. The gift of creativity
#29. Succulent plants that don't die
#33. Laughter of the kiddos
#36. Friends that pursue me
#47. Packages at the front door
#65. A servant hearted husband
#67. Time with a good friend to remind me I am not alone
#70. Ice cream cones on a rainy day
#71. Sticky little fingers to wipe clean
#78. Warm sunshine on a cool day (good for the soul)
#82. The dancing sparkles when the sun hits the water
#90. Toys scattered everywhere, played with, imagination used
#91. Dirty bare feet from playing outside
#95. Dishes, dishes, dishes. The ever full sink of dishes to clean and dishwasher to empty (provided for)
#96. Hymns with deep words that speak to the heart
#97. Folded laundry in its pile
#100. Family walks
Photo By: Beth Waggoner