early one morning the sun was shining

And I was lying in bed...

No wait, for some disturbed reason I couldn't sleep after William's 6 a.m. feeding so while the kids and Clay are sleeping in, and I could be still wrapped up in my comfy down blanket, I am wide awake and staring out my office window.

The view is pleasant though, and it is actually rather nice to have some "alone" time in the house. The spring sunshine is lighting up the greening fields and our freshly tilled garden area. A pair of bluebirds are perched on the fence, welcoming another day. One round little spider is hanging lazily upside down just outside my window. Tired after completing a fresh web.

It is comforting for me to watch nature so hard at work in the springtime. It is a time for beauty, and for industry. All the little creatures unquestioningly strive at all their jobs - building nests, spinning webs, collecting food... all things that are fleeting and things that they will have to do over again in a day, or month or year's time.

Recently I had a conversation with some ladies at church about how it can be encouraging to have our crafts decorating the home so we can see that some of our work does endure. Obviously a mother's overall work - raising up righteous children for the Lord so that they can in turn raise righteous families and transform the fallen world - is beautifully eternal and long lasting. But in the day to day it can be hard to remember that. Everything is so temporal it can be discouraging. Dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking... But we can take joy in our work. A beautiful home and happy children (and husband) are a pleasing gift to God.

One hymn that we sang at RCC in the past year gave me encouragement in this area:

Behold us, Lord a little space
From daily tasks set free,
And met within they holy place
To rest a while with thee.

Around us rolls the ceaseless tide
Of business, toil and care;
And scarcely can we turn aside
For one brief hour of prayer.

Yet these are not the only walls
Wherein thou mayst be sought;
On homeliest work thy blessing falls,
In truth and patience wrought.

Thine is the loom, the forge, the mart,
The wealth of land and sea,
The worlds of science and of art
Revealed and ruled by thee.

Then let us prove our heavenly birth
In all we do and know:
And claim the kingdom of the earth
For thee, and not thy foe.

Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought
As thou wouldst have it done;
And prayer, by thee inspired and taught,
Itself with work be one.

John Ellerton, 1826-1893