Serving my family is my public worship to Him

I have come to believe that true mystics of the quotidian {the ordinary or common place} are not those who contemplate holiness in isolation, reaching godlike illumination in serene silence, but those who manage to find God in a life filled with noise, the demands of other people and relentless daily duties that can consume self.  If they are wise they treasure the rare moments of solitude and silence that come their way, and use them not to escape, not to distract themselves with television and the like. Instead they listen for a sign of God’s presence.~ Kathleen Norris, “The Quotidian Mysteries, Laundry, Liturgy, and Women’s Work”

There are a few things that I ask of the Lord daily, one being that I will serve Him and show Him how much I love and care for Him by the way I serve my family.  My service to my family  day in and day out is nothing more, but a public worship of ritual—a liturgy to Him who has blessed me with family.

I believe that how I care for my family and our home is a direct link to my relationship with God. It is only through the  strength of the Lord that I am able to get up and perform the daily ritual of my calling to them, the ones that I love, but often feel takes me for granted.

"Who in their right mind," I often wonder, would want to serve people who bicker and complain when asked to participate in such a public worship of ritual.  Sure they may not "outwardly" verbalize their dislike for being asked to help, but their countenance displays the heart condition of the soul.

Though I love my family and my service to them is to better them, my service and worship must be first and ultimately to Him... 'cause it is only the service that I do unto Him that sustains me... giving me what is needed to continue.

In the silence, I am listening, Lord.  Not escaping. Not distracting.  Say it again: not escaping, not distracting.
Letting the daily, deafening noise, “a life filled with noise“, framed by thin moments of silence, tune me to You.
I am listening for You, daily.  A mystic of the quotidian.
Lord, in my quotidian liturgy of cleaning…and mothering…and being… let a hallowed silence seep into this cracked, parched life of noise….quenching me with the water of You. In the daily, let me find the Divine. ~ Ann Voskamp

What is your public worship of service to Him? 

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers , Women Living Well,  Time Warp Wife, and Hearts 4 Home