The Glory of the Usual

Last night, a young mom (24) of three children, ages four, two, and 15 months, called into the Dr. Laura program. Overwhelmed with the challenges of raising multiple little children, she was a definite mom in need of mercy! She told Dr. Laura she knew staying home with her children was important, but she felt so unimportant at the end of each day and wanted some encouragement.

While Dr. Laura did tell the caller that being a mature adult means doing what we need to do--even though it doesn't always feel particularly great, she missed sharing what the mom questioning her value really needed to hear the most: there is glory in the usual. At the close of each day, she couldn't see it. That's why she felt like, in her words, she needed to make a "bigger imprint" in the world.

As moms, we make a huge imprint each day, yet it's rarely glaringly obvious. That's why it's so easy to miss. The biggest impressions are left by the most ordinary things done consistently (see my series, "Super Parents are Just Ordinary People Doing Ordinary Things Consistently").

As Carol Van Klompemenburg writes (as shared in the NIV Women's Devotional Bible),

"[Sometimes] we think we will start to live at some future date...Our drive to the mythical future prevents our savoring the present. It becomes simply a step...with no meaning of its own. I do the dishes so I can get to the laundry...I read to my children to augment their verbal skills.
But said Sophie Kerr, 'The future is now!'...We shape our future by how we handle the present...In each moment the real future for the real me is now."

Present moments, strung together, create the tapestry of "the future." There is a glory in the usual. This is what leaves an incredible imprint. This is what that mom was hungry to hear.