Though I’ve given up on law school and became a stay at home mom, I still long to pursue full-time work that overflows from the core of who I am. And maybe one day I will.
But my real life in this season of teenagers and sports and three different schools and community and work — well, it looks like delivering left-behind lunches, supervising math homework, avoiding the laundry, lamenting the dailyness of dinner, refereeing, running a taxi service, cheering from the sidelines, teaching life lessons while driving my minivan, and giving up on any semblance of work-life balance.
At my worst or even at my average, I can begrudge all of this because sometimes being a stay at home mom is a.) it’s mundane and repetitive, and b.) it can feel like a misspent life.
I really did not want to write that last sentence because it sounds awful. But it’s where my human heart can land on any given day.
And that’s why, when I read the story of Mary and Jesus and the perfume, I came a little undone on the inside. Truth and beauty lodged themselves within my spirit and I’ve walked a little askew ever since.
While I may not have Jesus in the flesh at my dinner table tonight, He is always my companion. And He tells us that when we provide for the physical needs of those who depend on our care, we’re also demonstrating love and devotion to him.
This isn’t a post about career vs. family.
It’s not even a post about motherhood. Not really. It’s about receiving our right-now lives as a gift. And that looks different for each of us.
I’m learning that in each season, I have to prioritize the roles that only I can fill. Right now, that means being a stay at home mom. Only I can be my husband’s wife and my kids’ mom. There are other things God also calls me to do right now but I always return to this question:
Who needs me more right now? {For someone who doesn’t love to be needed, answering this question is more discipline than it is default.}
Sometimes only you can be the one to earn a paycheck or contribute to your family’s livelihood. Only you can be the one to take care of an aging parent or an adult sibling. Only you can be the one to help your grown child through a long season of crisis. Only you can be the one to love a difficult student in your classroom or a neighbor who has no one else.
I write from the intersection of my own season and circumstances but this story could be told a million different ways.
What sacred devotion have you been given for this season? Who needs to receive what’s in your alabaster jar?
Only you and your people can answer this question.
It’s easy to worship at the altar of public opinion or even at the altar of sensibility without realizing that you’ve been taken captive. Modern narratives can be sneaky like that. I’m absolutely guilty of imbibing what sounds good instead of drinking from Truth.
I’m also guilty of looking at what others are doing and then feeling like a failure by comparison. In feeling left behind, I sprint to catch up — only to find that I’ve left my own people behind in the process.
Straying from devotion probably comes naturally for most of us. For me, the key is coming back to the presence of Jesus and surrendering to the call of right now.
Today. These people. This season. This work. This devotion.
When we’re running hard toward our hoped-for life, we miss the sacred gifts of the right-now life.
Mary only had Jesus for a brief moment and she did the scandalous instead of the sensible. By everyone’s standards, she “wasted her gift’s purpose.”
Do you know what Jesus said in that moment?
Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me. When she poured this perfume on my body, what she really did was anoint me for burial. You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has just done is going to be remembered and admired. – Matthew 26:10-13 {The Message}
I don’t know what your life looks like today but I can tell you this. Jesus says your daily offerings are important even though they might seem wasteful by others’ standards.
