Why I Will Show Up Today

 Today I am going to spend some time reading to my elderly father. I am going to go grocery shopping for my family. I am going to do laundry, wipe the dogs feet before I let them in, and pick up and put away random stuff. I’m going to set up the new printer and throw the old one away. I am going to ask my children how their day was when they get home and celebrate their victories with them and commiserate with their frustrations. I’m going to cook my family dinner (but not do the dishes. I’m not crazy. I make the kids do that.)

When my husband gets home I am going to welcome him with a smile and a kiss and thank him for working so hard every day so I can serve our family from home.

I am doing all these things today, just like I do these kinds of things every day, because that is the job I have chosen. This is the job I am blessed to have. It is my joy and pleasure and I would not have it any other way.

I am showing up today because that is what I have always taught my children to do. We show up. Is there a job that needs to be done? Then do it. Don’t look around for someone else to step up. Do it and do it well.

What kind of example would I be if I sat down today? On National Women’s Day? If, to show how much I am worth, I suddenly stopped doing my work?

I am so proud to be a woman. I love being a woman. I love being a mom, a nurturer, the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, but here is the real truth. I do not do this work solely because I love my family (though I do) or because I enjoy keeping a house (though I do). I also don’t think my life as a woman needs to look anything like yours. God has this work for me and I love it. God may have different work for you. You do that work.

I will not stop my work today to prove the point that I am so great and my work is so important, because ultimately I don’t work for man, I work for God; the God who sent his son to die for my sins. Talk about unappreciated. Can any woman on earth complain they’re so unappreciated that they came here perfect and got up on a cross, took up the sins of man and paid for them with their blood, so that the world could be right with God?

I am only one person. I am only one small person. I do not have a grand stage or a loud platform. I’m just a woman who has chosen to be a wife and a mom and a house keeper and a teacher and a follower of Jesus and I try to do my work to the best of my ability, though I often fall short. I will probably not affect many people’s lives, but I do pray that those lives I do touch I affect deeply. 

As Mother Teresa, one of my favorite women and such an example for all people whether you’re a woman or not, said...

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

That is why I will show up today and every day I have breath.