Your Labor is Not in Vain!

Didja ever have one of those days where you had so much to do, you feared getting out of bed in the morning?

I awoke with that feeling of gut-wrenching dread this morning. I knew the list was humanly impossible, but I also know all things are possible with the Lord. I cried out to the Lord and He answered my prayers.

While reading my Bible He spoke to me through this verse:


I wrote it on a piece of paper with black Marks-A-Lot marker, the ones I hide from the kids, and put it on the fireplace as I began my day. I had my heart set right and I was ready to labor as a Mom, a wife, a teacher, a neighbor, a friend, whatever the Lord called me to do that day.

Five loads of laundry were washed and folded. When I began teaching school I set up the ironing board in front of the crackling fire and my markered words of encouragement and began putting creases in sleeves, ironing down collars and getting my husband's clothes looking like he has a wife who cares.

I taught school and ironed, I corrected school and ironed, I made a few business phone calls and ironed, answered a few emails and ironed some more.

There was even time in the afternoon to call my Mommy and catch up. I shared with her my Super-Mommy kinda' day, fueled by the verse the Lord gave me in the morning.

Then, I made Jen W.'s delicious lasagna for the first time in about five years.

When 7-year old Beka noticed me setting the table, she asked, "Who's coming to dinner?"

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My answer of "no one" confused her.

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"Then why are you setting the table so nice?"

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"This is what Mommy always used to do before she got sick. A few times a week I set the table really nice for our family dinner."

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She got into the spirit of things and added a lot of candles to my table setting and to the coffee table.

The rains had come in the afternoon and the weather lengthened the commutes for Scott and Beth as they drove home from opposite ends of the metro area. When they arrived home they smelled another home cooked dinner (two days in a row - I have set a record!) and Beka's lovely arrangement.

We enjoyed a traditional family dinner of much laughter, talking, sharing and joking. Afterwards, we retired to the living room where the crackling fire and the flickering candles reflected the warmth of our love and soothed our weary souls. I mended, some read, some used the computer, some snoozed. We basked in the atmosphere inside while the rains poured outside.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted, my legs ached and I could hardly wait to go to bed. But, the fatigue was worth it, because I know that today, I labored not in vain, because I labored in the Lord.