Faith at Work: Laura Carr
The life of a stay-at-home mom is filled with activity from morning until night. There is not much room for reflection, or meditation or formal prayer. I suppose a few thoughts of faith must have crossed my mind some nights, as I fell into bed exhausted from cooking, cleaning, carpooling, grocery shopping, homework help, yard work, errands, volunteer work, etc., etc.
If I thought then about my faith at all in my "workplace" it was through the story of Martha and Mary, with myself as a definite Martha! “Martha was distracted by her many tasks. She came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’" (Luke 10:38-42)
I often felt this way when overwhelmed with tasks, and as the primary care-taker of my family this happened quite often. However, when looking back on the stay-at-home years it is easier to see from a distance how faith was functioning in my daily life and work. Something was allowing me to get through each day relatively unscathed. Perhaps it was the comfort and insight that comes with taking care of others, or the gifts that come with service to others. Even though daily tasks may become routine, there is beauty in care-taking and trying to do it well. I could see, hear and touch God in the faces, voices and hands of my children and husband, and it gave me great peace of mind to know that by being at home when my children were young I was giving them the opportunity to grow and learn in an environment I could make for them. Faith was in my workplace and with me in the simple, yet honest tasks of making a home and rearing my children.
If I thought then about my faith at all in my "workplace" it was through the story of Martha and Mary, with myself as a definite Martha! “Martha was distracted by her many tasks. She came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’" (Luke 10:38-42)
I often felt this way when overwhelmed with tasks, and as the primary care-taker of my family this happened quite often. However, when looking back on the stay-at-home years it is easier to see from a distance how faith was functioning in my daily life and work. Something was allowing me to get through each day relatively unscathed. Perhaps it was the comfort and insight that comes with taking care of others, or the gifts that come with service to others. Even though daily tasks may become routine, there is beauty in care-taking and trying to do it well. I could see, hear and touch God in the faces, voices and hands of my children and husband, and it gave me great peace of mind to know that by being at home when my children were young I was giving them the opportunity to grow and learn in an environment I could make for them. Faith was in my workplace and with me in the simple, yet honest tasks of making a home and rearing my children.
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