"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord you are serving."
~Colossians 3:23-24
It is always satisfying to put in a day of hard work. To accomplish something. To see visible evidence of your toiling at the end of the day. Most moms will tell you that we don't always see this in the short term. At the end of the day, our house might look like it's still in a state of disarray despite the persistent cleaning, tidying, and re-tidying that has taken place hourly (or minutely!).
But though you might not see it, work IS being done. Noses are being wiped. Scraped knees are being cared for. Laundry is being relentlessly washed, folded, and put away. Our kids do not care if our house is the tidiest or the trendiest or the biggest. They don't care if their toys have been meticulously organised according to the latest Pinterest trend. They care about being cared about. They love that you left the kitchen a mess and chose to play an extended game of hide-and-seek. They love that you let them dump out your 5 loads of laundry so they could play race cars with your laundry baskets. They love that you chose to snuggle them on the couch because they were having a rough day. It mattered that you looked them in the eye the entire time they told you a neeeeeveeer ending story about a bug they found outside.
Though you may not always see it at the end of the day, your BIGGEST accomplishment lies in the small, seemingly unimportant encounters with your kids throughout the day. In serving them. In modelling to them. In loving them. Work is important. It's just that work often looks different than we might expect it to in the home.
A wise woman once told me that the trouble with life is that it's daily. One day you may accomplish a lot in the tangible and intangible ways you take care of your family. And then you have to do it again. And again. And again. Take courage in your pursuit of the mundane. Do it for His glory and only in His strength. Keep on keeping on!
In an effort to do just that over here, we've been using a simple chore chart. Kids, even little kids, are able to see the value in work and in doing their best to help in the home. It is good for them to see the distinction between work and play and to learn responsibility.
Because my kids are young, I opted for a simple picture chore chart with magnets. Each of my kids has a picture list of chores to do each day beside their photo. When they complete a task, they simply place a magnet over it to indicate they are finished.
After completing all of their tasks for the day, they are able to clear off all of their magnets and place one additional magnet over the number line at the bottom of their picture chart. There is a number for the days of the week (Mon-Sat). If they are able to complete their chores for all 6 days, they get to pick a small prize out of my prize bucket. (It is a little treasure chest full of dollarstore items and small candy). This is a fun motivational tool for them but it's not necessary. When I was teaching my youngest kids how to use the chart, it was a really good incentive. Also, if one child has a "horrible, no good, very bad day", it is a good teaching tool there are consequences for not completing tasks. This especially hits home when they see siblings get to place their magnet for completed work and receive a reward. The great part about using numbers is that they are able to use days of the next week to earn a reward (just because they missed one day of hard work, the rest of the days still count towards something).
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