We went for a bit of a drive today as things were getting a bit chaotic in the house with it being wet outside and full of humans and pets inside! Aaaaarrrgggghhhh!

Anyway, "what could be better than crocheting in the car" I thought to myself.

As I sat crocheting my granny square, I looked up to see a young lady smiling at me, then talking to the guy next to her and pointing at me for him to have a look - and they were laughing! (Please note: I was not driving here, I was in the passenger seat - just in case you were wondering).

Am I a Nana or what? What's so weird about crocheting in the car? Hubby did point out to me that he has never seen anyone else doing it before... then he did go on to remind me about the 3 old ladies he saw sitting bundled up in our local auction rooms knitting during the auctions. What was his point?

Has anyone else ever crocheted in the car before? Am I a Nana? p.s. no offence to any Nana's out there!

Anyway, due to crocheting in the car I did two squares today... I even surprised myself... two squares in one day! I hope I can still be in the 'a granny a day flickr group'?

Life is full of drudgery, and it's not only the 'stay-at-home' mums like me that find this... I am sure everyone has drudgery to some degree in their lives.

You know what I am talking about... the preparation of food for meals, the dishes, washing, cleaning, changing nappies, endless hours spent playing little games with little tots, mowing the lawns etc (I don't actually mow the lawns, but I'm trying to include my male readers here!). It's not just the fact that these jobs need doing... but the fact that they will need doing again, and again, and again, day after day, year after year. That's drudgery.

I recently read this amazing article titled, "Finding God in the Drudgery" by Jodi Martens. It was really really good.

She confesses in the article that when she left her executive job to raise her kids full time she was about to have a full-scale identity crisis.

"Overnight I felt like I had gone from being a successful career woman to a scullery maid. My days consisted of preparing food (and immediately watching it be consumed), desperately trying to keep up with the dishes and doing at least one load of spit-up-infused laundry a day. I vigorously worked from early-morning feedings to late-night story time, only to know I would have to do it all over again the next day... and the next day... and the next day. This was my life for the foreseeable future. The thought terrified me."

Does anyone out there identify with her? I did... and still do at times.

She decided that she didn't want to live the next 18 years or so dreading every moment, so set out in search of some answers. And surprisingly it was the work of a 17th century monk that spoke to her the most... Brother Lawrence.

Brother Lawrence worked in the kitchen of a Carmelite monastery for over 40 years and viewed every day as a precious gift from God. To him, every task, no matter how small, was of great spiritual significance. His work was his worship because he offered it in love to God. "We can do little things for God," he wrote. "I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him...".

Wow.

Simon Carey Holt, a theologian at the University of Melbourne, says, "Spirituality is about all of life and all of who we are. It has to do with moments of retreat and rush-hour traffic, with periods of silence and the noise of little children, with hushed Sunday worship and frantic family dinners. The promise of 'God with us' is not confined to the mountaintop."

I like that. We have plenty of frantic family dinners at our place.

Jodi Martins goes on in the article to suggest that the seemingly inglorious tasks we turn up our noses at are an often overlooked form of worship. "Because many of us tend to separate our lives into 'secular' and 'sacred', we tend to see the chores that accompany child-rearing and housekeeping etc. as purely secular... but that act of making meals, sorting the recycling and wiping your child's runny nose are just as spiritual as other 'religious' activities when done with the right attitude" she says.

Jean Pierre de Caussade, a 16th century monk encourages us to never look "for the holiness of things but only the holiness in things."

Interesting thoughts... hopefully you have been as inspired as I have. Now I must go and fold the washing!!

PLEASE NOTE THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED! See here for winner.

In ten days it will be my 1 year blogging anniversary!

So to celebrate, I'm having another softie giveaway.

This giveaway is for Mandy the Matryoshka softie, and I will be drawing the winner's name on 28th April 2009 at 7pm (New Zealand time). That's in ten days time folks!

Postage is free to anywhere in the world.

Conditions for entry:
To enter for the softie giveaway, please leave a comment on this post (with you name!).

Only one entry (comment) per person please.

Spread the word and checkout my softie shop for more softies here.