We live close enough to London that the speed with which Londoners live their lives trickles into the mentality of our village. Perfection and ‘getting it right’ pervade expectations. I am not a high achiever. I live a small life. A life of great importance, but only to a small amount of people. And that is how I like it.
My mum always said I was born in the wrong era, and never seemed to fit into this one. I hate the frenzy of today’s world and yet I fully believe God places an individual just where He wants them in space and time.
Over the past few weeks I have been dismayed at how far I have wandered from the life I believe God has for me. Yes, I am living near London during a time of great pressure. A pressure to succeed, to live big and dare I even say it….to live best. But best for whom? And who determines what is best any way?
‘That you also aspire to lead a quiet life…Mind your own business…And to work with your own hands…..as we commanded you.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11
There are three verses in the Bible which have always caught my attention of how I would like to live (1 Thessalonians, Titus 2 and Proverbs 31). For a long time they have been my life verses. They are probably the standard verses which speak to a lot of stay at home, home schooling mums. The first is the above verse, which reminds me to live a quiet life. Seriously, quietness for me is such a blessing; it calms my naturally frenetic mind and is balm to my soul.
The rest of this verse talks to me where I am right now. Minding my own business is an important reminder to me to focus on the work God has placed in front of me. I have been distracted lately. My heart, mind and soul has been away worrying about things I have no right to worry about. My goal this coming month is to focus on what is in front of me, that which God has laid at my feet.
I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. ~Helen Keller
I wonder if there is something in all of us which needs to matter. I love this quote by Helen Keller. Yes, I will determine to complete the humble tasks of parenting, of raising my children, loving my husband, keeping my house (no sniggering please 🙂 ) and loving those God brings into my life, and I will accomplish them as if they were great and noble tasks.
By nature, I am content. I am happy with lots of money 😉 but also just as happy with little. I have always considered my life to be enough. I take enormous pleasure in the simple things, and I have always felt so incredibly blessed by the people I am honoured to call my family and close friends. The last few weeks I had lost this joy. This week it has been slowly resurfacing as I have made a concerted effort to look for it in every situation.
I have held my children closer; cherished my little one’s wet, sloppy kisses; teased my teens and belly laughed with them; I have listened and smiled as the morning chorus of our garden birds have woken me at dawn as the sun peeps through the crack in my curtain and I have held hands with the man I adore. God’s word has spoken to me and washed over me like a waterfall on a balmy sunny day. I feel enveloped in His love. It is the simple things.
And it is here I end my pondering for today. This is my new life verse. To always encourage. To always build each other up. To always love. For that is where joy is to be found.
Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
All pictures are from The Graphics Fairy