Worshiping God In The Mundane

Most of us aren’t living an exciting life defined by travel, riches, and adventure. Instead, our lives are a series of familiar tasks and duties that we must accomplish to survive. For some of us, the days resemble each other so much that they eventually begin to blend into one another. Is it Thursday already? Life can end up on autopilot if we aren’t careful. When life feels bland and mundane, then we are at risk of forgetting God in the simple moments. Worshiping God in the everyday things, however, should be a priority and can be done.

Every Day Like The Day Before

Everyone can potentially feel like life is boring, repetitive, and just “meh.” My perspective, though, is rooted in the life of the average Christian housewife. So, keep in mind that I’m looking at things through that lens.

I woke up this morning and my husband had started his day early in order to work out. Lying there alone, I took a deep breath and thought about what my day held for me. Essentially, it was the same as the day before. And the day before. And the day before… Sure, some elements change depending on the day of the week, but a great deal of my day is copy, paste, repeat. It’s no wonder that some folks look at women like me and call us “just” housewives. My life isn’t exactly glamorous. This mundane task-focused life probably also pushes some Christian housewives out into the workforce because they think staying home isn’t enough to serve God well.

Have I sold you on the idea of being a housewife yet? The opposite, right? I know I’m making it sound pretty awful. Words such as “mundane,” “boring,” and “bland” combined with descriptions like “not adventurous” and “repetitive” sound like a friendly warning to stay away from staying home. Well, I’ve been home for about thirteen years now, and I love it and highly recommend it. In fact, I think my decision to be a housewife has been a tremendous asset to our home and our family. But I’m going to keep it real, too. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the movie Groundhog Day.

The biggest problem that arises from giving into a negative outlook about my responsibilities at home is how it affects my walk with the Lord. It’s easy to leave Him out of my day because I think I don’t need him to scrub a toilet or make a PB&J. Wrong thinking creeps in about His relationship to what I’m doing. I might end up believing my daily tasks and responsibilities are too lowly to include God.

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Colossians 3:23-24

Colossians is clear. Nothing is too small to do for God. “Whatsoever” we do, we should do it for Him. But what if I don’t feel like it or prefer other things God has not placed in my life?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Romans 12:1

A living sacrifice? Yes. This daily grind of wife, mother, and homemaker is a reasonable service to God.

Worshiping God In The Daily Life Of A Homemaker

How do we worship God in the mundane tasks of our lives? I think it looks different for different people, but I’ll take you through some parts of my day that trip me up and make me feel ungrateful and sometimes lack God’s presence because I leave Him out of it.

1. Worshiping God In My Children’s Education

If you’ve been to my blog page or Facebook page, like, ever, then you know I homeschool. I always have, and Lord willing, my children will complete high school as homeschoolers. I’m a big proponent of homeschooling, and I frequently encourage parents to reconsider it as an option.

Nonetheless, sometimes homeschooling can feel like a never-ending job with the same complaints, arguments, and explanations every day. This year I am literally teaching kindergarten for a fifth time.

Some ways I keep God in our homeschool day and in the front of my mind as I encounter challenges include praying with the kids, showing them where God is at work in each subject we study, and unsurprisingly, taking time to study the Bible and God’s character as a part of our curriculum.

In addition, I ask God for help a lot. A whole lot. I ask Him to help me be patient, not lose my temper, and to see homeschooling as an important thing He has tasked me with rather than an obstacle to the rest of my day. Lastly, I try to remember to thank Him. Without Him I wouldn’t be able to stay home and teach my kids. The Lord has provided my husband’s job, funds when times get tight, a plethora of curriculum options, a supportive husband, and a country that allows homeschooling.

He is so good to us, and homeschooling is just one small example.

What If You Don’t Homeschool?

If you don’t homeschool, you can still run into the tiresome routine of early mornings, packing lunches, homework, hasty dinners on the way to lessons, practice, and activities, etc. In this circumstance, you still need to turn to God for help and thank Him for what He’s provided for you and your children with their education.

Just remember to take the time to add the Lord to their education when they’re home and point out where He is in their everyday school activities.

2. Worshiping God While Cleaning

It can’t just be in my home that everything gets dirty and messy again as soon as I turn my back on it, right? Five kids combined with a husband who likes to leave piles of his important items in communal spaces makes a consistently clean and neat home quite the challenge.

As usual, our mindset plays a large part in how we approach this. Yes, I definitely clean the same things over and over again. And yes, I don’t particularly enjoy cleaning. But what if I looked at it like a privilege?

I have a safe, warm, and comfortable home in which to live. That bed I make every morning is comfortable and a refuge to my tired head each night. The knick-knacks and photos I dust are reminders of people I love and places we’ve been. That laundry I never seem to finish doing is evidence of possessing more than enough clothing and five healthy and active children to make those clothes dirty.

I wonder how many wives and mothers don’t have a home to clean or enough clothes to get through the week. How many women have more than just dust to contend with to keep clean? If they have knick-knacks, do they have a place to put them?

The perpetual cleaning routine of any family can lead us into me-centric thinking because it isn’t convenient or fun, but that is selfish and thankless. Plain and simple. Let’s thank God for work to do with our hands in the home and for so much provision at our fingertips.

3. Worshiping God When I Cook

I love to cook and bake. I used to try new recipes on a regular basis as a new wife and mother, and I discovered that I wasn’t all that bad at it, either. Cooking brought me joy, and I saw myself serving God by serving my new husband in the kitchen.

Then, we had children.

I’ve been through a few different parenting seasons, and some of them all of them left me much less time to cook and bake like I wanted.  Diapers, the many hazards of newly walking toddlers, breastfeeding, potty training, homeschooling, and any level of self-care I might be able to squeeze in suddenly made cooking something to just get done.

As the kids got bigger, their opinions were made known with little to no reservation. Do you want to take any of the remaining joy out of cooking for a mother? Constantly tell her you hate it. That should do the trick.

Obviously, we have worked on the children’s attitudes about foods they don’t prefer and how to show gratitude about meals, but I have things to work on, too. Although I’m cooking for my family, I’m really doing it for God. What more practical way is there for a mother to serve her family than to provide them with a meal? So, even when they pick at their plates, I know I have pleased the Lord when I worked hard and thoughtfully to feed my husband and children.

I also try to look at cooking with a grateful heart. We have food to eat every day. Up to this point, my children have never known real hunger. Meanwhile, I’m rolling my eyes about having to carve out time to cook? That’s a terrible attitude!

In Matthew 6, we are told how to pray through the example of what we often call the Lord’s Prayer. Part of this prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread” (v. 11). Daily bread is the food we need for today, but so many of us usually have so much more than we need. Cooking that provision should be an act of worship, not another reason to complain.

4. Worshiping God With Budgeting

You know what they say about money? You can tell what a man loves by looking at his checkbook. So, what are we buying with our money?

The most obvious way to worship God with budgeting is to regularly give to your church, missionaries, widows, Christian charities, etc. As the Lord blesses you, bless others in return. Notice that I’m not mentioning dollar amounts or percentages. That’s between you and God.

The other thing I would say about money is to actually have a budget. That money isn’t really ours. It belongs to God, and we are just stewards of it. God gives it to us, so let’s take care of it and use it wisely and, as possible, for His purposes.

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (emphasis mine)

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)

5. Worshiping God During Bible Reading And Prayer

Hold up! Am I saying that reading the Bible and praying can be a mundane part of a Christian housewife’s day? I absolutely am. I’m not saying it should be or is all right, but I’m here with the hard-to-swallow pills today.

Anything can become a checklist item that we hardly notice in our day. We get it done, check it off, and move on. When we allow the days to weigh on us like a burden rather than the gifts that they are, then our spiritual fervor will cool. Before we know it, things we should love such as being in the Word and praying to God become chores.

If that’s where you are right now, then I encourage you to approach this devotional/prayer time differently. For one thing, pause any sort of Bible reading goals you have. For instance, if you’re trying to read through the Bible in a year but have just been going through the motions, then focus on reading smaller sections of Scripture or parts you find particularly encouraging in this season. Leviticus is important, but it might not be where you need to be right now.

Second, reprioritize. Make sure that this time with the Lord is on the top of your list. That might mean omitting things you would like to get done to ensure you have time to focus and dedicate to being in God’s Word.

Third, reach out. Talk to your husband or a godly friend about what you’re going through. Sometimes just saying it out loud and knowing that someone else knows and cares is a game changer.

Remember, reading the Bible and prayer are not worship if you aren’t really present with Him.

Final Thought

Life can feel like a bit of a letdown compared to what we imagined in our youth. Maybe movies and music prepared you to expect a high intensity life in which you would do amazing things that make a huge impact on the world. Instead, you live a relatively quiet and unassuming life like nearly everyone else.

Not to sound too cliché, but life is really what you make of it. When we neglect to see God in the small things of daily life, then we allow it to feel mundane, tiresome, or even meaningless. On the other hand, worshiping God and seeing Him in all we do helps us see the significance of this life. The Lord tasked me with this family in this town, and I choose to be excited about what’s in store for me each day because every “mundane” task gives me another opportunity to serve Him and worship Him.

In what area of your daily life do you find it difficult to worship God?

Image courtesy of Joshua Rawson-Harris via Unsplash.