Where is God in Everyday Life

I've always been someone who looks forward to the "next big thing" in my life. I thankfully don't dwell on the past yet sadly often forget to live in the present, always looking ahead to what's coming next. When I was in school it was always Christmas break or summer, the weekend or the big concert. It seemed what got me through the boring and mundane tasks of every day was looking ahead and thinking "well this exciting thing is coming up so it's okay that right now my life is incredibly dull."

It's not bad to look to the excitement of things to come, but as I got older I noticed this attitude seeping into other areas of my thinking. I noticed I discounted daily activities as though they weren't important, wondering how my daily to-do-list or chores and errands could possibly have any significant meaning in the grande scheme of God's design. Yet becoming the parent of an amazing little baby boy has helped open my eyes to see that the mundane can be incredibly glorious in God's sight.

I mentioned in my previous hub that amazingly, Reese can spend so long doing something which seems so trivial, yet more amazingly still is that I can spend so long watching him do it and I enjoy every moment! I love watching as he learns new things, as he finally figures out how to get the square block in the square hole. I love watching him eat, even though it's something so simple and common. I love getting to snuggle and read books together; the fact that they are silly and childish books doesn't matter because I just love spending time with him. I love talking with him, even though his sentences are lots of "bah bah bah da da ma ma" and incomprehensible syllables; just the fact that we are talking fills me with joy. I love watching him try to walk, try being the key word. He falls, sometimes bumps his head and cries, yet I congratulate him for trying and pick him up in my arms and comfort him. And yet one day, I know, he will master the art of walking.

Walking is the "next big thing" on my baby's agenda, yet Reese isn't dreaming of the day he walks and he isn't bored with crawling. He doesn't think that his mama is distant because he isn't progressing as fast as the books say he should. Reese doesn't think that his life has no meaning just because he can't talk yet or walk yet, he just lives in the moment and when the day comes for him to walk, he'll be ready, because he has been prepared for that moment.

Just as those who have amazing histories told in the Bible, or other great warriors of the faith, we too have our shining moment, our "big thing" that could be written for future generations. Those great stories aren't just random events in history, they are a part of their larger stories, much of which were filled with daily activities and the mundane. Yet it's in the mundane that God prepared them for their great story, and it's in our mundane, God prepares us for ours. For some of us, it's a one liner. For others, we may get a whole chapter. Either way, it's not just those moments that matter, it's the path surrounding those amazing moments...because it's in the everyday life where God wants to meet us and form us.

And then there's God. He is not just some distant idea about what is good or some being high up in the clouds overlooking humanity like it's in ant farm. He is our Father. He wants to be intimately involved in our every day life. He wants to spend every moment with us, not just a 5 minute "okay I read my Bible now I'm done" gig, or even an hour spend in solitude in deep prayer. Those things are great, and they prepare us for the next big things in our lives, but God wants to be involved in our mundane. He delights over us, he loves to spend time with us as we drive, work, eat, play. Even though our talk is like an infant's babble, he wants us to talk with Him because He loves us. It's truly amazing.