This week I was awakened at two a.m. by the sweet and melodious sound of a child throwing up, washed many soiled sheets from said throw up, settled countless sibling squabbles {in fact I’m needing to settle one right now….}, cooked meals, been the target of Nerf bullets, patched up several skinned knees, chased a naughty dog out of the house {ad nauseum}, watched Youtube videos with my teen that he finds extremely funny {Rhett and Link and MisterEpicMann}. I even managed to make some Christmas cookies, which means now I smell like drool and vanilla, and let me tell you that’s not a scent coming to Bath and Body Works anytime soon.
My mundane moments, small and faithful though they are, can feel a bit, well, un-spectacular. This is why as we begin this week along the path with two beautiful women, Ruth and Anna, I breathe a sigh of relief. Their lives speak loudly, God uses them mightily, and yet they were also spectacularly un-spectacular.
The beauty of their stories is their faithfulness. In the midst. In the mundane. And look what came from their beauty.
So, let’s all take a hearty exhale as we look at the “un-spectacular” lives of two godly women, that point so clearly to the SPECTACULAR God we serve. Let’s revel in how He is using us….in the midst of the un-spectacular.
{Weekly Challenge}
This week, as you go about your life, remind yourself that everything you do brings glory to God – even dealing with countless loads of laundry. We are called to be faithful, even in the mundane, unspectacular moments of our lives! Seek out another woman who may be struggling with the “unspectacular” aspects of her life, and encourage her. Remind her that who she is and what she does IS important!
Week 3 Memory Verse
Week 3 Reading Plan
Let’s Talk: How is God using YOU in the midst of the mundane this week? How do the lives of Ruth and Anna encourage you today?
All for Jesus,
God is showing me amazing things happening in my ordinary life. I am deciding to be faithful in my job, which can seem pretty mundane, but He has placed me there.
If we are faithful in the little things, won’t He entrust us with so much more? And what we see as insignificant might He see it as important? I’m trying to be the faithful wife, mother, worker that I can be. He is showing my husband, who recently became a believer, beautiful truths about forgiveness and salvation. God is reminding me how awesome He is. Continue to be faithful. He sees us.
I love what you said here: “If we are faithful in the little things, won’t He entrust us with so much more?” Love that!
Thanks for sharing your encouraging words with us, Rachel!!!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
One of my soapbox topics is that the mundane tasks of life, the everyday ups and downs, is where we truly serve the Lord, and I try to encourage other women to embrace this. I have found that so many women, specifically moms, discount what they do, and I am quick to remind them of what they are really doing. No one, even those who stay-at-home with their children, is “just a mom,” for instance. Sure, wiping noses, cooking nutritious meals, bandaging boo-boos, and vacuuming the carpets over and over and over is mundane and exhausting and might seem purposeless and meaningless at times, but this is where it’s at, ladies! You are teaching a child that they are loved, that they deserve hugs and nutritious meals and clean carpets to roll around on; you are opening the doors of their hearts to welcome Jesus some day!
I know that all the readers of this study aren’t stay-at-home-moms or even moms at all, but that isn’t the point of what I’m saying here. Whatever you’re doing, whether at home or in the workforce, whether serving children or ill parents or complete strangers, Jesus is in the mundane, and one of the greatest gifts we can offer ourselves is realizing that what we do matters, no matter how small. It is tempting for me to look at what I could be doing (using my degree to teach music to countless students, earning quite a decent salary since I would be 16 years into that career if I had so chosen) and then discount what God has called me to do (homeschool my own children, support my husband in pastoral ministry), but I dare not! God has called me for such a time as this, and God has called you to your position as well!
I am so excited to dig into the study of these two women of the Bible this week! I have read the book of Ruth many times, but I have never connected that Rahab was the mother of Boaz. I always counted him as a righteous man who was willing to marry a foreigner because she honored the Lord, but now it makes even more sense that he was so willing. His own mother wasn’t an Israelite by birth. Interesting tidbit of information!
Kendra, THANK YOU for sharing your heart and words with us! We’re thankful to have you joining us in this study!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
What interesting women Ruth had as her mother’s-in-law. Though we don’t know for certain ,Rahab, as Ruth’s second mother-in-law could have been alive to have an influence on her life. All too often we fail to realize that God uses our Godly mother-in-law to have a ministry in our lives. What a testimony of Gods grace and power would have been Ruth’s in the event that the two of them actually met. In any event, Ruth’s would have heard from Boaz the amazing story of Rahab’s faith and love for the God of Israel.
What is the weekly challenge please?
Hi Kat! The weekly challenge is there at the end of the post, but for easy reference here it is too:
This week, as you go about your life, remind yourself that everything you do brings glory to God – even dealing with countless loads of laundry. We are called to be faithful, even in the mundane, unspectacular moments of our lives! Seek out another woman who may be struggling with the “unspectacular” aspects of her life, and encourage her. Remind her that who she is and what she does IS important!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
Yes, this is greatly encouraging. It is sometimes REALLY hard to keep going in the middle of the mundane, but it is indeed in the minutiae of life that faithfulness shines through. I often think that we just get brief glimpses into lives of great people in the Bible – particularly great women – when their lives must have been really humdrum and day-to-day. We see only the extraordinary happenings which are brief interruptions into lives lived ordinarily. This study is SO exciting and refreshing!
Angie, I never thought about these stories as only the extraordinary parts of their lives, that the rest may have just been ordinary. This makes me think of today and social media. We only see the highlighted, extraordinary parts and it’s very easy to forget that between the posts lies the ordinary.
Great point! Thanks for sharing.
I agree Angie! This study has been such a blessing! Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
Thank you for this study! How cool it is to know that God is in ALL details. There are so many amazing stories that show this in the lineage of Jesus that I did not know before this study. He chose women to be in the lineage of Jesus that no one could have expected (Mary, Rahab), and on top of that… their stories were seen as scandalous. God’s mercy and grace are shown clearly in the fact that Rahab (a prostitute) is in the lineage of Jesus. Thank you for these sweet reminders of God’s faithfulness in our lives during the advent season. Thank you for the reminders that God uses ordinary and sinful women (like me), and that our lives are part of a much much bigger story. Thank you for the reminder that advent season is about a much bigger story that parties, gifts, a break from work/school, Christmas carols, ourselves… it is about the celebration of the life of Jesus, the Savior of the World. It is a time to reflect on the hope that we have as followers of Christ… a hope that never ends. In that, we should rejoice and find true peace, hope, and joy… my prayer is that I will experience the peace, hope, and joy that is only found in Christ ALL year and not just during advent(and that I can share this hope with others). Advent is a good time to be reminded of these truths but the GREAT news of the gospel is that it is not something that ends. Praise the Lord! Thank you for your ministry that reaches women all over the world and reminds us that our hope is in Christ… looking forward to hearing about the 2015 studies.
Hi Liza! Yes, it is SO cool knowing that GOD is in ALL things! Thank you for stopping by and for being a part of this study! Praising Him with you!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
mundane – doing dishes, laundry (never ending), stuff for work that goes unnoticed (though that shouldn’t matter – since it’s the world and not Jesus – for He knows), sleep, eat,…but really – if i think about this as “all for HIM” – shouldn’t it cause me to smile and continue on? yes!
YES! When we change our perspective and realize that we do all that we do for Him – it’s such a treat!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
I believe that in the midst of the mundane (or not quite so mundane at times) of my job (I work with people with disabilities which can be quite challenging at times). The Lord has placed me to work alongside a co-worker (his name is Andrew) who is in a sense rejecting God. He has told me in the past that he does not believe that Jesus is God’s Son. 🙁 I was sad to hear that when he told me. But despite that, I believe that God is at work! 😀 Long before Andrew told me that he did not believe that Jesus is God’s Son, the Lord laid him on my heart to pray for…to pray that he would accept the Lord as his Savior. God has opened doors for opportunities for Andrew and I to speak about God and religion. I’ve even given Andrew an abbreviated version of Lee Strobel’s book called The Case for Christ. Andrew received it well and told that he would read it. 🙂 That was very encouraging but I can only hope that he has actually read it. But the Lord has opened yet another opportunity for me today!! Andrew shared some Buddhist (yep…he’s into that) quotes with me, which I read because I want to keep things open with him. The quotes do have some truth to them, I have to say. But what is interesting is that Andrew told me to share with him some verses (he said quotes) from the Bible. He’s thinking it as a sharing activity between us but I see it waaaay more than that! I see it as God’s hand working giving me another opportunity to share the truth about Christ with him. 🙂 I have been praying for this guy’s salvation for so so long! It would be absolutely wonderful to witness it!!
That’s so amazing! Praying for you as you shine His light for your coworker to see!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
So thankful this was the study/blog to read today! Love it when God knows what we need and supplies that. I was just thinking about having to go into work tomorrow (I work at Starbucks) and have to do the same stuff all over again:/ It’s going to be a really good challenge for me to think/transform my mind on how God delights in the mundane aspects of our life. It’s one thing to say,”sure God cares about the little mundane things we do in life.”…but it’s even harder to truly BELIEVE and TRUST God in this. If our Creator believes this about our lives then why is it so hard for us to accept this truth?
Praying God uses this week of study to make clearer some job/career changes I have been praying/asking Him to show me with what I should do.
I pray you all would find joy and peace in doing the mundane things of life tomorrow And even as we complete our to-do lists for Christmas.
He is amazing like that – supplying what we need right when we need it. Love it! Praying for you Heidi! Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
Especially during the Christmas season I get busy in buying the gifts, wrapping the presents, making the menus, baking the cookies. I want to remember it is all for Him and to take the time to celebrate the birth of our Savior.
Amen! Celebrating with you Angela!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}
After all the “spectacular” things that have happened this week; including death in the family, I’m embracing the mundane… The familiar daily tasks that bring consistency to life. Doing these tasks gives me a chance to pray; to contemplate and realize that I have previous grief, hurt, pain that I have avoided and need to face and forgive so that healing may begin.
I’m so sorry for your loss Amy! Praying for you friend!
Blessings, Marlene {LGG Encourager}