What Have You Done Today?

Many years ago when my husband and I went through counseling to try to firm up some sagging places in our marriage, our counselor told him that when he came home from work, my husband was not allowed to ask me what I had done that day.

We had small children at that point, and I was volunteering at our eldest’s parent-involved school 2 days a week. I was lucky to get dinner on the table each day.

I am not a high-energy person when it comes to physical labor. I can’t work in the hot Florida sun for more than about an hour before I’m just done. My husband can go on for hours at a time.

Sometimes I feel guilty for being inside in the air conditioning. Maybe I’m reading a book. Maybe I’m playing a mindless game. Or maybe I’m working on my computer, actually accomplishing something.

Wait, what was that I just said?

That’s exactly the problem. If I’m just resting or reading or playing, I have the mindset that I’m not ACCOMPLISHING anything.

And that needs to change.

There’s a saying: God made us human BEings, not human DOings.

Yes, there are chores that need to be done. But sometimes just BEing takes precedence.

 

This post is a part of the Five-Minute Friday link up. Join the fun! Today’s prompt is “done.”

What Did You Do Today?

After going through some marriage counseling, my husband learned that he was never to ask me the question “What did you do today?” If I needed to rest, I was to be allowed to rest. If all I accomplished was getting out of bed and getting the kids off to school, then that was OK. If I just needed to sit and read a book, I was to be allowed that freedom.

As moms, I think we get caught up in the doing, and we forget about the being. I am not loved because of what I do; I am loved because of who I am. And who I am is not dependent on the jobs that I have or the title I might hold. Who I am is completely dependent on who God made me to be. My identity cannot be in what I do, or I will spend my whole life striving. The rest I long to find will never come.

In Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The New International Version translates it “Be still.” When we know that there is so much work to do, how hard is being still? This morning, one of the women from my office shared that God showed her that sometimes that means just sitting cross-legged in front of Jesus and letting Him look at you. That’s a great picture. Awkward, it might seem, but necessary. Am I letting Him see me? Am I letting Him tell me what HE wants me to do, rather than telling Him what I want to do?

This afternoon, my husband and I took our eldest son for a second job interview at a soon-to-be-opening restaurant in the area. Not two minutes after I prayed that God would do what He would do in that interview, my son came back to tell us that the hiring manager had told him that, whereas they really liked him, they were full up on 15-year-olds and to come back when he was 16 and he would have a job.

God is in control. He knew that “interview” would turn out the way it would without my efforts to make it any different. What could I do anyway?

What can I in my own strength do about anything?

So, what did I do today? Did I rest in Him? Did I cease my striving?

There’s a reason we’re not called “human doings.” We’re called human “BEings.” Makes a lot of sense to me.

Here’s a song that speaks to that. Enjoy. Restless

Thankful today for:

600. retreats

601. meals paid for by someone else

602. rest

603. newness