Homemaking is Not a Holding Pattern

I read this today on the GirlTalk blog and thought that it was good. I'm not in this stage of life yet, but hope to be some day. But I also think that anyone can apply it to whatever stage of life they are in.

"In the midst of all this unpacking and unpacking I've
found myself thinking, "When I get through this move, then I can get back to
more important things."

This is not the first time I've succumbed to such a
faulty thinking. Throughout my career as a homemaker I've been tempted to
look past the duties of the day to the more"important", "significant", or
"exciting" work of tomorrow.

"When the baby sleeps through the night, then I can
begin to..."
"When the children are a little older I'll have more
time to..."
"When the sports season is over than I can turn my
attention to..."
"If they ever graduate from high school, then I can
finally..."

But there are no holding patterns in God's
kingdom. As homemakers, we are not simply circling the skies of life,
waiting for God from His control tower to call us to real kingdom work.
No, we're doing that important work today. As Dorothy Patterson observes:
"preparation and care of the family shelter are important enough for God Himself
to assign that responsibility." (e.g. Titus 2:3-5, Pr. 31).

If God Himself has assigned me the task of caring for
my home, then I don't want to half-heartedly perform the duties of today,
reserving my best efforts for "tomorrow". Rather, I want to follow the
advice of missionary Jim Elliot: "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the
hilt every situation that you believe to be the will of God." I want to
unpack boxes and scrub my new bathtub and run errands for the new home and take
my son to the soccer scrimmage for the glory of the One who saved me and who, by
His grace, called me to this wonderful work.