Accomplishments

I did two loads of laundry today. Folded them all and put them away.

And then I emptied the dishwasher. And filled it up again.

And I cooked breakfast, assembled lunches, and prepped dinner so it would be ready on time.

I made the bed. And I wiped sticky residue off the table at least twice.

Oh, I cleaned some paint off the floor.

I also ensured the kids didn’t burn the house down.

I diffused a few tantrums and refereed a couple of arguments.

And then once I got the little one down to nap, I changed into actual clothes, pulled my hair back in a pony tail, and finally made the bed before transforming into homeschool teacher for the afternoon.

It was the long answer to a short question.

“How was the day?”

I could’ve answered it with less words. Good. Busy. A little tiring. Mundane and repetitive.

But it came out in a list of things I did.

Things I had accomplished.

Albeit, they weren’t nearly as fancy as the board meeting he attended. Or the back-to-back meetings he led, or finalizing the department budget.

But still. I had done things. A lot of things. Even if the house hardly boasted evidence of my work. I wanted him to know, regardless.

It’s so very easy to believe that the things we do, the things we accomplish, our daily tasks, are what really matter the most.

And in this calling of motherhood, five years deep, I still tend to believe that the more I do in a day, the more valuable I am. The more I accomplish, the more others shall be impressed.

You might find the same ringing true for you in your daily calling, too.

But maybe we’re asking the wrong questions.

Maybe the question isn’t what all you accomplished today. Or even how well the day went.

Maybe the questions that really matter go much deeper. They’re much more challenging and difficult to answer, and that might be the very reason we refuse to ask.

How did you display God’s love today?

How did you show grace rather than give into anger?

Where did you exercise self-control when you really, really wanted to feed your flesh?

What did you do in order to build up another?

How did you reflect Christ?

Because these are the things that matter, my friends. If I do a hundred loads of laundry, fold them straight from the dryer, and put them away while grumbling, what eternal good have I actually accomplished?

And if I cook an amazing meal while hollering at my children to be patient as grateful, what has actually been communicated?

Let us work hard, dear friends, being productive contributors and completing the tasks set before us. And as we shift our focus from the amount of things we’ve done, to how we’ve done them, may we remember that “whatever we do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”  (Colossians 3:23)