the Tender Mundane

So much about my life can be mundane.  Most moms I know can relate.  We wash the same dishes over and over again.  We launder the same clothes repeatedly.  We wipe the same faces.  We cook the same food.  Heck, we read the same books relentlessly (albeit, possibly through gritted teeth).  We say the same things like a broken record.  It can be mundane. 

But, is mundane bad?  And, can we still do the mundane in a way that pleases God? 

Ephesians 4:32 commands us to be kind and tender-hearted... 

I've been meditating on doing the mundane in such a way that it clearly communicates love. 



A tender heart is displayed in tender actions, even if they are tender mundane actions.  Maybe what got me thinking about it is when I recently gently wiped Blossom4's face before bed the other night.  She commented on it to the effect that it was loving and she recognized it.  I don't even remember what she said; I could just tell that she unmistakably read the love in my gesture.  It spoke to my heart in a way that has stuck with me throughout this week. 



I get busy-ness.  Really, I do.  Being busy makes me rough and hurried as I wipe faces, yank shirts over little heads and go about other such "mundane" tasks.  (Might I add the little thought that gets me every time, "Whatever I do unto the least of these, I do to Jesus.") 

I CAN communicate love in those little tasks.  It is the tender mundane.  God has worked in my heart to make it tender and I believe it will come out in my actions toward the Blossoms in our house. 


(Blossom4 is purposely not photographed in the above picture because she decided to decorate the tree in only her panties. 
Clearly that is not blog-worthy attire. :)

Never think that the mundane of your life is meaningless.  I challenge you to make it tender, to communicate the love of Christ to your children in the little gestures.  They can read our gestures - think about what your gestures are saying. 

"I'm too busy." 

"I don't have time for you." 

"I don't care about how this makes you feel." 

"You're driving me crazy." 

or do they say, "I love you and Christ loves you." 

 

The amazing power and love of God is communicated in the tender mundane. 

I feel called to a higher plane in my dealings with the people (yes, PEOPLE) of my family this week. 

Is my mundane tender?