Washing Dishes as unto the Lord

After the wedding of our neighbor’s daughter, Mom and I visited the mother and grandmother of the bride to bring our wedding presents (including some framed Scripture).  The grandmother and aunt on the bride’s father’s side joined us.  The visit went really well—one of those times when you can tell your hosts are genuinely glad that you visited.  At one point, the mother of the bride went on and on about how her mother loves watching me in my kitchen (her kitchen/balcony faces mine and our buildings are rather close)—how “gentle-womanly” I am cooking meals and cleaning dishes.  (Hee-hee.  Good thing she can’t read the impatient thoughts often running through my mind when I am doing those jobs.)  She talked about the reflection on my character, fearing God, etc.  Of course, I’m not doing anything special—just doing what all of us do in cooking and cleaning up after our families.  However, my neighbor’s comments were incredibly encouraging to me!  I spend a lot of time doing menial tasks around the home.  And I can sometimes become discouraged at the pitifully few hours I have in community.  While that menial work is certainly important to my family, it is often hard to see how it is in any way helpful to God’s kingdom outside my home.  That day with my neighbor reminded me that God can use us as we do the most routine of our tasks.  Washing dishes joyfully or cooking dinner as unto the Lord—these too are acts of worship.  And in our cozy, lacking-privacy Central Asian life, these simple offerings of worship can apparently bring glory to God’s name as well.