Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Pictures and Nails...

   I like to think about things.  I mean REALLY think about things.  Maybe that comes from teaching children for so long.  I see object lessons everywhere!  Anything from a simple stick to dry ice! 
   Well, the other day I said something to my husband that made me think about a nail.  Silly huh?  :)  Then I thought about people.   Have you ever felt like you're being used like a doormat?  I mean, you throw yourself into something, wear yourself out, do as much as you can and then some, ...but it seems that no one ever notices or cares?  Come on, be honest!  If you've never, ever felt that way, I'd like to meet you!  You rank up there with Paul!  I think we've all felt that way at one point or another.  You can probably call it pride, a "woe is me" sort of attitude.  But lets be realistic too.  We're all human, and we all get discouraged at times.  I mean, even John the Baptist got discouraged!  Especially when we try to do so much and we see no results from it. 
    Now what do you use a nail for?  Well, you can hang something on it.  Or you can use it to build something.  Sometimes you might use it in the making of a craft, to create something beautiful.  But you never see a nail in a picture frame displayed on the wall.  You don't polish a nail and put it on a shelf and show it off when you have company.  Its always used for something else.  Some mundane job.  Its always in an obscure place, but doing a very important job.  The very building you sit in as you read this is standing there because of a little nail....a LOT of little obscure nails.  Even the nails that held the Lord to the cross had a very important job, even thou you never hear about them. 
   There are some folks around you, especially in church, who are the nails who hold the place together.  They are not the beautiful pictures placed around in promenant spots for all to see and admire.  The are not the ones who sing specials every week, or get the leadership positions, or get to be seen and heard all the time.  (And there is a place for that, and there are people who are very good at that.)  But there are also the people who never say anything, are never in the spotlight.  They are the janitors at church, the folks who scrub the toilets and floors.  They are the lady who brings flowers for the Remembrance table at church every week.  They are the cooks in the kitchen during a get together at church.  They are the faithful ones.  The ones who you KNOW will be there every time the doors are open.  The ones who always have a smile and good attitude no matter what they are going through.  They are the mothers who are behind the scenes in the child rearing process.  The old prayer warriors who keep the devil tripping everywhere he turns.  The faithful fathers who go out and work day in and day out just to bring in a few dollars to keep food on the table.  Yes, these are the nails in God's family.  The ones who hold up the church, the family.  Oh you may not see everything they do, or say, or go through, but they are there, and they are VERY necessary to the family of God!  They don't get the attention and glory that the pictures on the wall get, but they still have a job to do.  Their OWN job.  The job that GOD gave them.  A church or family would be pretty bland if there were no "decorations", but you can't get by without the janitor either.  Or someone at home to change countless diapers. (I wish I would have kept a record of how many we've gone through so far :)  What would your house smell like if no one washed those piles of dirty dishes? 





   We all have a job to do, from the greatest to the least.  So lets be happy and content doing that job.  Don't worry about never being seen or heard.  Its all being recorded in a place that REALLY matters.  Through your faithfulness, you are storing up treasures in Heaven.  We don't need attention down here, the praises of men.  If God is pleased with our work, then that's all that should matter.  Because He DOES see.  So, "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might!"  If God made you to be a nail in the wall, be the best and strongest nail you can possibly be for Him.  And if God made you to be a beautiful picture, then do your job humbly and to the glory of God.  Serve Him joyfully wherever He has placed you in His family! 
 
Super big smiles...its bath time!  What do you expect! 
 
This look will melt your heart, especially when she brings on the tears!
 

Christian loves to play on the kitchen floor while I'm cooking.  I normally have a preaching CD playing, and he'll sit there quietly listening.  I know he's absorbing it, because he'll repeat things the preacher says ever so often. 
 
 
 
 
Mom, this one is for you.  He LOVES this hat!  Its actaully too small for him, but he pulls it down the best he can.  Notice his ear is kinda' bent down.  :) 
 
Christian made himself a cozy spot and settled in to play a game.

 

 

1 comment:

  1. I found your blog through your sisters. What you write here is So true!! Thnaks for the reminder. I feel like one of those nails sometimes...its good to be reminded that my work serves a good and important purpose. I have nine kids and the days are long...clean up, do laundry, feed people...repeat:)

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