Do Everything

      I was driving along the other day, windows open to that exhilarating warmth of first spring air and sunshine pouring in, radio turned loud. Stephen Curtis Chapman was on the IPod and "Do Everything" was emulating through the speakers, emulating through me. Maybe it was the stark white of mountainous cumulus clouds against the pale blue canyon of the noon sky. Maybe it was the promise of new life in the muted pinks and milky whites of the Dogwoods. Perhaps it was the way the flow of the trees and houses, along with the rest of the world passing by, seemed to melt perfectly into the melody and beat of the music. Whatever it was, I suddenly realized that in the catchy, upbeat rhythm and charmingly honest lyrics there existed great wisdom.
     Sure, I know that I have been created to bring glory to my Heavenly Father. Of course I understand that I am to behave in a manner becoming to Christ. Don't all Christians know that??
    Today, though, I realized Mr. Chapman was singing about much deeper things than these. While I am certain he was referring to our responsibility to be "harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit" (1 Peter 3:8)I believe he was also saying much more than that. I believe, on a much deeper level, he is talking about trust. Trust that God does, in fact, have a plan for your life. Trust that He's got you exactly where He wants you for the moment. Trust that the things He has called you to are important.
    This particular song holds a lot of meaning for me because I have been that woman "pickin' up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today". I have swept up a multitude of Cheerios and wondered if the monotony would ever end. And somewhere in the middle of laundry and grocery shopping and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the one gazillionth time I have found myself asking, "Lord, is this really important for Your kingdom??"
    I wondered how the same God who raised the dead back to life, walked on water, and commanded the heavens to be simply with His words could possibly be pleased with my changing diapers and cutting peanut butter and jellies into star shapes. How could the same God who calls missionaries to feed orphans in Haiti and care for the dyeing in Kenya really care about the noses I wipe and silly songs I make up just to relish a goofy, drooly, two-year-old smile?
     Here's what I have come to learn, though, about those missionaries caring so compassionately for the sick and hungry and dyeing and lost. Somebody, somewhere, a long time ago wiped their nose gently with a tissue and sang soft when they were sick. The people who spread God's love today were cared for by a loving, compassionate, and exhausted mom (or dad, or someone else who loved them) yesterday. That's what Mr. Chapman is talking about when he says "Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you". The little hands we hold today through all the "firsts" and "scarries" will be the hands that reach out to others tomorrow.
     We have no idea what the Lord has in store for our little ones, we can only be sure of one thing - it is our responsibility to "train them up in the way they should go" so they will not depart from it. God said it himself in Proverbs 22:6. If we do our part in teaching them to love the Lord and, thus, love others as themselves they will not depart from it! I heard in church the other day that some are called to go down into the well while others are called to hold the rope for those descending. Perhaps, in singing silly songs, wiping noses, and kissing booboos we are the mothers (and fathers) standing proudly at the top of the well, holding for dear life onto that rope which holds our little ones.
   

       Lord, thank you for calling me to raise my children up in the way they should go. You may not have called me to far away places to heal the sick or minister to orphans (at least not yet), but I trust that the things You have called me to for now are just as important in Your plan. Besides, if everyone went down into the well, who would be there to hold the rope?

Do Everything, Stephen Curtis Chapman