Contrary to belief, not everything will be magnificent. Most things in life, actually, aren't magnificent, or pretty, or glorious, or really colorful, or perfectly filtered as most Instagram stories and articles are nowadays. Actually, a lot of life is ordinary. I think it's so, so important to consider and fold gratefulness and significance into those everyday, ordinary moments.

I remember talking with a woman from my church, she was a Mother of 4 and stayed at home to care for her kids. That week she was feeling especially discouraged. Her words came out like this, "I feel like I'm just doing the dishes, and taking care of my kids, and doing regular stuff. I could be doing so much more."

I remember just wanting to take her by the hand, stand her up, look her right in the eyes, and say "Dishes are huge. Taking care of your kids is huge. Cleaning the house is huge. This ordinary work you're doing is serving your family in such beautiful and impactful ways. The Lord, who has made you a Mother, knows that this work is a priority and importance. This delights Him."

But I know this woman's struggle because it's often my own struggle. If I'm not giving food and clothing to the homeless every week, studying the word every day, singing every praise song to the Lord in my heart every moment, selling everything and giving all of my money to the poor, making delicious food for my family, and being perfectly patient with every and all interruptions, then I am disappointing God and everyone else.

This isn't right, God is not surprised by our inability to do 10 million things at once, or to be 10 million things at once. And truly we were intended for everyday work, even the simplest kind of work, like caring for a garden.

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15)

What if glorifying God sometimes, and maybe even most of the time, looks like choosing to be with Him in all of the ordinary things we do in life? What if it looks like intentionality and faithfulness in the small things? Like a kind smile as you dish your child's dinner plate? Or doing the dishes because it's an opportunity to serve your family? Or making a 45-minute commute to work every day to provide for your family?

I'm in no way implying that discipline should be thrown out the window, or that doing the big, hard things should be neglected, or that multitasking isn't a necessity sometimes. What I'm saying is that the groundwork matters. The tilling of the soil, though seemingly pointless to the naked eye, brings nourishment to the seeds.

Every little thing and every big thing we do has the potential to be done with God, to bring glory to Him, and has potential to grow beautiful things, even if we can't see it from where we're standing. So with all of this in mind, I hope that you can determine each moment as significant, important, and perfectly placed to glorify Him in even the smallest of ways.