A Woman's Work Is Never Done

There's always more laundry that needs to be sorted, washed, folded, put away. There's always some dish that needs to be cleaned. There's always a dirty bathroom, dirty floor, mail, bills, meals, diapers, dust and more and more laundry. All of these things strike me as vain. Just as soon as I've finished the laundry for this week, I have to start again. Just as soon as I've finished cleaning the kitchen or vacuuming the floor, it gets dirty again. I feel like I'm going to spend the next several years just cleaning over and over and over again. Am I going to clean my life away and miss what I'm staying home for?

She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Give her the product of her hands,

And let her works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:27 & 31

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

John 15:4-5

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

1 Corinthians 12:9

In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will . . . a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Ephesians 1:8-10

HEAVENLY FATHER,

Thou hast placed me in the church

which thy Son purchased by his own blood.

Add grace to grace that I may live worthy of my vocation.

I am a voyager across life's ocean;

Safe in heaven's ark, may I pass through a troubled world into the harbour of eternal rest.

I am a tree of the vineyard thou hast planted.

Grant me not to be barren, with worthless leaves and wild grapes;

Prune me of useless branches;

Water me with dews of blessing.

I am part of the Lamb's bride, the church.

Help me to be true, faithful, chaste, loving, pure, devoted;

Let no strong affection wantonly dally with the world.

May I live high above a love of things temporal,

sanctified, cleansed, unblemished, hallowed by grace,

thy love my fullness,

thy glory my joy,

thy precepts my pathway,

thy cross my resting place.

My heart is not always a flame of adoring love,

But, resting in thy Son's redemption,

I look forward to the days of heaven,

where no langour shall oppress,

no iniquities chill,

no mists of unbelief dim the eye,

no zeal ever tires.

Father, these thoughts are the stay, prop, and comfort of my soul.

(The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Ed. Arthur Bennett. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975. pp 306-307.)