There's Always More to Do

Michelle Jones Schroeder saved time commuting and decluttered her home - and realized how much more she can do to enrich her faith.

I remember several months ago, when word came down that we would be working from home temporarily. There was so much uncertainty but I also saw some opportunity. Fortunately, we were set up fairly well to transition to work from home and my kids are old enough that they didn’t require help from me to complete their schoolwork. Ditching the time to get ready, drive to work, drive home and so forth meant that I had some extra time during the day. Extracurricular and social activities were gone, so my weekends were free. Like many of you, I used some of that extra time to declutter and refocus some of my energy to organizing our home.

I was feeling pretty good by the time I was called back to the office because of all I had accomplished in the house. Then one day, I went to look for tape and I realized there was that drawer that had remained untouched. That one drawer that contained a twenty-year accumulation of junk – random twist ties, scraps of paper with notes that had long since lost their importance, a canister of film that I never developed, pens, pencils and much more. The next day, I went to put the mop away and upon opening a closet, I sadly discovered that it too was ignored in my cleaning spree. How did I miss it?

I sat back and looked around only to realize that while I had accomplished a whole lot, there was always more to do. A few months later, when I watched an educational video for a ministry my husband and I participate in, I realized I have the same somewhat misguided sense of accomplishment with my faith life that I apparently have about my house. Yes, I had made great strides in learning more about my Catholic faith in recent years. Yes, I had developed a closer relationship with Jesus in that time. And yes, I removed a lot of sinful clutter from my heart but there was so much more to do. How was it that I was learning so many things in this video for the first time about a faith I practiced for a lifetime? How was it that despite how close I’d grown to Jesus, there were times I still felt so far away from Him?

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The journey to perfect faith is not a sprint. #catholicmom

I had to remind myself that this journey to perfect faith is not a sprint. I have to accept that no matter how much I learn, there’s so much more to know. There’s always more to do in my faith life. The more I uncover and discover about our amazing Catholic faith, the more I want to dive deeper into its mysteries. The more I seek, the more our loving Father reveals. Those revelations draw me in more to the teachings of our Church and to His heart. Those revelations give me examples to follow in the saints and build my confidence in proclaiming the tenets of our faith. God shows me another unnoticed drawer, another untouched closet but instead of mess, I find His glory.

I encourage you to spend some time learning more about the Catholic faith. Read the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Check out articles on saints and read Gospel reflections from a variety of authors. Dive in and learn! I promise that what you find will be far more exciting than anything in that junk drawer!