Courage in the Small Things

, via Wikimedia Commons

I think that the hardest thing in the world is getting up every morning and doing the same thing over and over again. I think it requires the most courage and perseverance -- much more than overcoming major obstacles. If the devil is in the details, then the devil surely lurks in these everyday, mundane actions.

Boredom is the place where trouble starts. When kids are bored, they cause trouble. And I think it's the same with me. When I get bored, my mind starts to wander. I wonder what it would be like if just one small thing were different. What if I lived in another city? What if my husband were more perfect? What if *I* were more perfect? All these "What Ifs" chase around my head and lead me to believe that there's trouble where there isn't any trouble and I go looking for adventure.

Boredom. Plain old-fashioned, Mom-I'm-Bored-ness. It's just exactly this kind of discontent that the devil tries to work his magic in. And, in fact, it takes a great deal of courage to fight the urge to push it all down and find peace in the day-to-day routine.

The small details of daily life are simply not fun. In fact, they are downright boring and those boring bits are much less glamorous to conquer than major obstacles. After all, who rallies around you to help you finish the laundry, pick up the toys in the living room, or take a shower? No, that's where the devil gets us --all that boring little insignificant stuff. And we have to face it alone.

When we stop the What Ifs and look hard at the here and now, that's Courage. When we bend over, touch the floor, and say "This is where I am right now; this is my mission," that's Courage. When we make the decision to keep going, to do what needs to be done, and quiet the doubts that our little contributions are not worth enough, that's Courage.

As Teresa of Avila says "God walks among the pots and pans." Even if you aren't faced with a sink full of dishes and your daily struggle is the stack of filing that never ends, or the morning meeting that you dread, this everyday repetition is where we find God. We just have to have the courage to trust that God knows what he is doing with our lives.

So, march on, everyone! I'll cheer for you if all you did was get a shower and kept the kids from killing each other. I'll cheer for you if you just got the top of your desk cleared for the first time since the Clinton Administration. Just let me know what to cheer for in the comments and consider joining in on Small Success Thursdays with Sherry Antonetti.