Entropy

If I've heard it once, I've heard it 100 times: "A woman's work is never done!" And why is this? The answer can be summed up in just one word: Entropy!

Danny informed me one day - jokingly - that my job falls into 4 main categories: laundry, cleaning, cooking, and conjugal duties (not necessarily in that order). We laughed, and I punched him, but it's true! As a stay-at-home-mom, much of my time goes toward tackling the mountains of laundry that have accumulated in the last 2 days, making sure there's enough food to satisfy five stomachs three times a day (sometimes more!), meeting the emotional/physical needs of my husband and children, and continually wiping things off - sticky surfaces, dirty faces, poopy bottoms; you name it.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be home during the day with my children and actually enjoy most elements of this calling. The downer, however, is the fact that nothing I do ever stays done.

It is absolutely the best feeling in the world when I finally get the floors scrubbed, the bathroom cleaned, the rugs vacuumed and the house smells clean and fragrant. I look around our immaculate, thouroughly disinfected house, and sigh with contentment as the sun streams through the windows. This lasts until the munchkins wake up from their nap, or until the next meal, if I'm lucky. I often have to resist the urge to tie my little darlings to the sofa so they CAN'T mess anything up for at least an hour. Sometimes I strap them all into their car seats before we leave the house, and then I give them each a cheese stick, and dash back into the house to clean up while they can't follow along behind me, undoing what I've just done.

And then there's the laundry. Does anyone anywhere ever have the experience of ALL their laundry actually being clean and put away?? Even as I take the last load out of the dryer and begin to fold and put away little clothes, more dirty ones are accumulating. It's the same with dishes. I've often wondered how I can spend so much time washing dishes and loading/unloading the dishwasher, yet both sides of the sink are always full of dishes!

I love to cook, and I love creating healthy (sort of) meals for my family that they enjoy. But unfortunately, I can't just give my family one meal in the morning and expect it to last the week. There is always another meal to be fixed, no matter how large or delicious the previous one.

As for the last item . . . all I can say is thank goodness it's so enjoyable, because this is another area that needs continual attention!

The fact is, my job would be much easier if diapers stayed clean, books could be read once and memorized, doors and walls remained fingerprint-free, and laundry stayed neatly folded in perfectly-organized closets and drawers.

But none of this happens. I know that when I serve around the house, I am performing tasks which will have to be redone in a matter of days, hours and even minutes. But this also makes me thankful. Thankful for the life in this house and the day-to-day activity that make constant clean-up a necessity. Thankful that my kids are able to dirty their clothes and eat constantly. Thankful that this life, where things like death and entropy rule, is a constant reminder of a better life to come - an eternity with Christ Jesus "where moth and rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break in and steal."