As I surveyed the kitchen table, the counters, the floors– I turned to my husband tonight and said, “I’m not even lying; it was cleaned spotlessly six times already today.” I sighed and flopped on the couch (in a ladylike manner), reminding myself that there was meaning in the ritual. Somehow. To which my husband responded by gathering the children to help clean the area for the seventh time, while I swooned with my hand on my brow and mumbled unintelligable phrases about rolling large rocks up steep hills.

There are worse things in life than this. But sometimes it’s not always wise to mention that to a post-partum new mom. Or even to a fourth time mom. The fact that one day my house will look like magazine pictures (and supposedly, I’ll be sad) doesn’t bring balm to a mother’s heart during the Groundhog Days of early motherhood.

To have joy for the journey and grit for the days to come, we mothers must offer our routines, chores, sorrows, tasks—yes, our entire days as an offering to Him. In the words of Elisabeth Elliot (via Meg):

The routines of housework and of mothering may be seen as a kind of death, and it is appropriate that they should be, for they offer the chance, day after day, to lay down one’s life for others. Then they are no longer routines… A mother’s part in sustaining the life of her children and making it pleasant and comfortable is no triviality. It calls for self-sacrifice and humility, but it is the route, as was the humiliation of Jesus, to glory.

To modern mothers I would say “Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as a mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high. . .” (Phil. 2:5-11 Phillips).

God’s chosen method of santification for many women in ages past is much like one of the preferred vehicles of His grace for many women today: motherhood. It is a chance to exchange our lives for His, our “loss of self” for His life seen in us. Knowing that the God of the Universe requires such from me and gifts me with this task, I am confident that He will equip me for the asking.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving the kitchen as it is and heading to bed. The crumbs will be there in the morning… along with a new measure of grace.