We are moms of daughters but when we look in the mirror what do we see? And how do we take His truth into the day to day drudgery and relentless work of being a mom. Who does He say you are?

• You may be worn out but He says your’e a warrior. You’ll fight for your children till your last breath. You’ll fight for their future, for their character, for their destiny in Christ. Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
• You may broken but He calls you His beloved. He sees the midnight tears, hears the choked sobs, knows the sacrifices you make each day. Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
• You might be a complete mess but in His eyes you’re a masterpiece. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship (masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
• You say you’re a sinner but He says you’re set free. Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
• You believe you’re a failure but He calls you Forgiven. 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
• You know you’ve been damaged but He calls you daughter. 2 Corinthians 6:18 “…and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me says the Lord Almighty.”
• You’ve listened to the lies but He says you’re loved. Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

We are heirs, kings, priests to our God, precious and beloved in His eyes.

So now what? What do we do with God’s truth of who we really are?

Arise, shine for your light has come and the Glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1

Or, as I like to say, get up, get moving, do the thing at hand, and take the bull by the horns! Shine His light out - Then, the Glory of the Lord will rise upon you.

Have you noticed how God loves to play chess?

You move, He moves.

You move again, He moves.

As soon as we arise, we find He was there all the time, He just wanted us to move first. He’s always there, He just won’t do life FOR us.

We have to fold the laundry.

Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost For His Highest, (February 19) says:

“Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything to do with the ideal - the utterly mean, grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real.”

Life is lived in the trenches and the valley, in spite of or maybe because of my lofty goals and aspirations for a meaningful, purpose-filled existence. The very dailyness of dishes, dinners and dusting can threaten to wear us out and make us question the meaning of life altogether.

I’ve learned the biggest test comes in the smallest things. The day to day drudgery that can either overwhelm or teach me what love really means. The ‘utterly mean, grubby things’ beckoning me to be spiritually real. The things causing me to remember I was bought with a price, my life is not my own.

Can you Arise, Shine when you’re scraping oatmeal off the walls for the umpteenth time? When the teen driver dangerously cuts you off in traffic? When your husband forgot your anniversary…again? When no one even offers to help you set the table or clean the kitchen? When everyone expects you to solve every problem, clean every mess and serve dinner with a smile every night?

Our task is simpler when we learn to enter into the light that’s already shining and shine it out to others.

Jesus showed us the way. In His day, washing feet was the lowest of tasks, reserved for servants. Yet, He took a towel, girded Himself and washed the stinking, dusty feet of twelve plain men, fishermen and brothers, a traitor and a tax collector. He turned drudgery into the divine, the meanest of tasks into a light filled example for every generation, an act that still inspires and infuriates us today.

Some pages I just want to tear out of my bible.

Yet, His words haunt and humiliate my pride. And the question looms.

Can I change a diaper the way He took a towel?

I can if these two things are true:

If I know who I am and if I live like I believe it.