Working Heartily

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colosenses 3:23-24

Y todo lo que hagáis, hacedlo de corazón, como para el Señor y no para los hombres, sabiendo que del Señor recibiréis la recompensa de la herencia. Es a Cristo el Señor a quien servís.

The verse above is listed on our chore chart in our kitchen. All of the chores are listed in both English and Spanish, as is the verse that reminds us how we should approach our work. It is a beautiful thing to be able to see one's appointed work for the day as an opportunity to serve the Lord, and to be able to do it joyfully. I have really enjoyed taking time to pour over this lesson with my children as we focus on the tasks of life, sometimes mundane, sometimes painful, sometimes exciting, sometimes tedious, sometimes challenging, but always together.

Oh, how I wish I would have been able to see the beginnings of this journey together in such a way, joyous and hopeful. And yet looking back, in my anguish I know that we worked heartily for the Lord, pursuing Him through deep sorrows and holding on with mustard seed faith.

I have, at times, felt the weight of working heartily, and the true treasure of the Lord as my reward. These are precious realities that are often only known through hard seasons. I would never trade a minute of this hard season for the Truth and the Treasure I have gained.

On working heartily...

In the past two years we have turned down many picnics, playdates, Bible studies, small groups, offers for coffee (!!!), and even many (yes, many recurring) extended family holiday gatherings. It wasn't because we are killjoys, though we have been accused of that. It was because we were working at some important things here at home with all of our heart and those things required all of our attention.

We were working heartily on attachment and bonding. We were working heartily on building a family from the top down with older kids coming later. Then we were working on putting the family back together when things seemed to be falling apart. Daily we worked on delayed, missing, or dysfunctional social, academic, and emotional skills. We were working on giving structure, security, hope, and Truth to children whose lives had been an abyss of chaos, fear and lies. Most days we were just hanging on, so adding a play date (getting involved in a small group, returning phone calls, grocery shopping, reaching out to others) was not really on our agenda.

Some time this winter we began to notice some significant changes at home. We would call them major home improvements - better than any improvement you can find at the Home Depot though, because these are heart improvements at home. Of course, after being in the trenches of training for so long, we have responded cautiously and conservatively. We are still working hard to discern what is best for our children in order to protect and teach their hearts and minds according to God's Word.

We have witnessed a change in our family as we have felt the children begin working together as a family. Since then, we have been able to enjoy the opportunity to return slowly to social outings like playdates. We have been so blessed to join back up with friends who have prayed and waited on the Lord while we journeyed through refining fires, as well as with new friends who share a similar journey of older child adoption and whose needs for structure and security are priorities, and with new homeschooling and church friends whose children play so kindly with ours.

After working heartily in a dry and dessert land, where I often wondered whether our family would ever be able to get together with others again, these increased times of fellowship this winter have been extra sweet.