I will be the first to tell you that I need time alone with God. My spirit craves that daily time of renewing. But I find it a challenge to make time to sit down with Him in this season of life. In my single years in college, I could control my schedule enough to wake up at a certain time and spend an hour building up my Spirit in God’s presence, in Worship and the Word, even before 7am classes and following a late evening of dancing.

But in this season of life my three greatest blessings are three big variables in my schedule, and I am often frustrated by the the brevity of actual “me time” in my day. The struggle is real. The time I can realistically sit down and read my bible, worship, and pray without interruption is such a tiny fraction of my day.

I have been slowly reading through a book called Sink Reflections by the Fly Lady, Marla Cilley. It is a book on developing routines and habits in your home to banish CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) from your life. It is not a spiritual book, by any means, but a fantastic tool to allow us to focus less effort on the stuff that needs to get done and more on what we really value, like time with God and time with our family.

A couple weeks ago I read a tiny nugget in there that I have been chewing on since then. After describing some of her morning routine, Marla says,

“Then I go to the kitchen, unload the dishwasher if it needs it and start thinking about my day. My music has already built me up in spirit and now I am ready to take care of me. I eat my breakfast, take notes on my God Breezes and check my calendar for appointments.

All of this takes 20-30 minutes tops. If I need to take a bath in the morning, it will take 30 minutes. This whole time is so automatic that I just glide through my Morning Routine/ritual and enjoy every minute. You see, it is not drudgery to me; it is worship.

If you have never looked upon this time as a way to commune with God, you are missing out on a great time to renew your spirit and fill your soul with His love, all the while blessing your family and doing His will.”

It is not drudgery. It is Worship.

That jumped out at me and I have been thinking about it ever since. Have you ever done a task, whether driving, or showering, or folding laundry, which happens so automatically and easily to you that you sometimes don’t even realize you are doing it? You are so lost in your flow of thoughts that you complete the task and then you hardly remember the time you spent doing it.

Marla is saying that her entire morning routine of housework and getting herself ready is such a habit that she doesn’t even have to think about it. And she is able to listen to music that builds up her spirit, and able to commune with God as her body goes through these routines automatically.

I believe there are two reasons she doesn’t dread this time of her day.

  1. She sees these daily tasks as an act of worship. As she is doing work that blesses her family, she acknowledges that it pleases God and she worships God through it. She further creates this atmosphere with music and prayer that help her commune with God as she is doing these tasks.
  2. She has made these tasks so habitual that she doesn’t have to think about how to do them. Her mind can focus on communing with God and she can draw close to him while she works, not just when she can find time away from her work.

My housework is worship.

When I have a quiet moment, as I fold laundry or do dishes, I play worship music or my audio bible and let that be time I intentionally commune with God. As I am doing physical therapy exercises or running to train for a big race, I use that time to commune with God. It is not multitasking. It is inviting God into whatever I am doing in service to Him and my family.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Colossians 3:23

When we acknowledge that the work we are doing, no matter how exciting or mundane, is for Him, it becomes an opportunity for worship and communion with Him. Our work becomes our offering to Him when we give our heart and mind with it.

In earlier years the sacrifice God asked me for was to wake up early and close the door to spend time with him before I started my day.

In this season, God is showing me that there are other ways to draw close to him. It is stretching me but my heart needs to know this truth that my head has known all along. God is already there in the mundane tasks, but he wants to be acknowledged and to not only be a part of those moments but be the reason we do what we do.

To that, I say, “Come, Lord! Meet with me at the sink while I worship you with soapy hands.”

“Let’s sort some things out while I fold laundry.”

“Clean my heart afresh as I scrub the floors.”

And His answer is always, “I’ll meet you there!”