A few days ago I peeked down the back of my infant daughter’s diaper, checking for any signs of filth. Satisfied that I wouldn’t need to change her any time soon, I snapped the diaper back in place. But as I did this, one finger emerged with a small ball of poop sitting atop the finger nail, and I’m pretty sure it was laughing at me.

As a mom of two, I have a fairly high gross-out threshold, but I carried on anyway. My older daughter, almost three, insisted on seeing it, though I did draw the line at smelling it. My finger got cleaned, the diaper got changed, end of episode.

Normally, I wouldn’t reserve such a vignette for polite company, but the point is this: my whole day is filled with little stories like the above, most of which would drive anyone listening to glassy-eyed boredom after about five minutes. And you don’t have to be a mama to concur that most of the daily stuff of life is, well, just not that sexy. We get up, shower, root out ear wax, do seemingly endless laundry loads, fax, file, walk the dog…

Here’s the exciting part. Mothering is a call on my life. And of course I love my girls and want to care for them. But ultimately, these tasks become worship because I love Jesus and want to honor him by loving and serving my family. I haven’t always done such a bang-up job in this realm. When I first married I refused to make lunches for my husband. When my first daughter was born, my heart attitude was very often “I have to do WHAT?!!” Over and over I’ve had to acknowledge, confess, and repent of my hatred of being inconvenienced. And now, through the refining that is both tender and fierce, I am beginning to make Jesus’s joy my joy. Praise Him.

Mars Hill Church Downtown lives for Jesus as a city within the city of Seattle: knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus. For more information, visit us HERE. For information on community groups and other ministries go HERE. For general questions, you may email us at downtown@marshillchurch.org.