Weary

"Do not grow weary in doing good." 

Those words were running through my head this morning.  Paul, from the Bible says them.  He's trying to encourage people to do good amidst people who are ungrateful or who don't notice or who continually disregard what is right.  It can be tiring to feel like you are the only good and wise driver on the road or the only honest person or the only one who is responsible and thoughtful.  You aren't, but sometimes it is exhausting when you can't see other people doing good.

But, that isn't what I was thinking about.  The actual phrase I was thinking was, "Do not grow weary."  

Life can sometimes make us weary.  We wake everyday.  We eat breakfast, get ready for the day, often do the same or very similar tasks each day, encounter the same people, go the same places, run the same errands then end the day back in our beds.  We repeat our days over and over.  Sometimes, the daily schedule can make us weary.

Do not grow weary.  Find joy in what you create each day.  Find satisfaction in what you improve each day.

Many years ago, when my only job was homemaker, I struggled with the daily household chores: cleaning toilets, vacuuming, washing the same dishes over and over, wiping up the same fingerprints, making meals 3 times a day, and the list goes on.  I was reading or listening to something, I can't remember, and I found some encouraging words.

Everything you do, you are either creating something or making something better.

I hung onto those words when the weary would try to sink in.  As I was fixing dinner, I would think about how I was creating something.  I was mixing up different combinations of food to create a meal that would give my family energy and they might also enjoy.

While I cleaned the toilets, I thought about how I was making something better.  By taking care of my floors, my dishes, the windows, and wiping the crayon marks off the wall, I was making all those things better than they were.  Fortunately, the nature of a home is that it is always in need of becoming better.  Once you clean it on Monday, it will be dirty again on Tuesday.  

The nature of a family is they will always need things so the opportunity to create is endless.  In addition to creating meals, there are clothes, curtains, games, stories, and memories.

As you journey through your day today and repeat many of the things you did yesterday, do not grow weary.  You are creating and improving as you go.  You are affecting someone else's life with every task you do.  Life may sometimes feel like the same routines over and over, but it is a long journey where each step you take causes a ripple affect under your feet and affects everyone else on the journey around you.  

Be encouraged and not weary.  Keep your eyes open for those moments when you get to create and improve the world around you.