Day 9: Showing Up

                                     Welcome to Day 9! You can read the rest of this series here.

A couple years ago the children and I watched as police cars surrounded a little shop that sits across from our home.  Caution tape went up, police dogs went out, and a helicopter circled overhead. An armed robbery, suspect at large....at 10:00 a.m.

Since that time, one of the first things I do in the morning is  glance across the street and see what's going on out there. If I am starting my morning at the usual time, I  see the same thing: a white haired lady  sweeping the side walk and wiping fingerprints off the door. She is there everyday, but I am probably the only one who observes it. She shows up in spite of the risks. She shows up even though the crowd she deals with during the day is not always friendly. Her workplace is noisy and devoid of beauty, but she still comes in to work everyday. I imagine this job wasn't what she dreamed of doing in her later years, yet each morning... faithfully sweeping.

Maybe I feel this way because I live in the midst of the down-trodden working (and often non-working) lower class, but in my eyes, showing up and doing your duty is an uncelebrated form bravery.  The people in my neighborhood aren't given applause and appreciation for their labor.  They do not experience significant economic benefits from their toil. They trudge to bus stops in the rain; they work in stinky factories. Some of their relatives and neighbors live just as well as they do but do not work at all. Some on their relatives and neighbors, no doubt, live better than they do, and their work is illegal. Yet so many of my neighbors bravely keep on doing their duty. Outsiders may make all kinds of assumptions about them as they walk along my sidewalk, but I can tell you that  the working poor are not cowards.

I am thrilled that Christians are waking up to the notion of living in a "radical" way. I haven't read the recent books, but I see people talking to the poor, reaching out to the orphan, and moving out of their comfort zone.  This is all very good.  However, faithfulness to our daily responsibility is, in itself, a form of  radical living.  It's brave to do work that no one notices....day after day.  It's brave to give it your all when the rest of society is slacking off.  It's brave to resist the urge to count the cost and become bitter because, even after all that hard work, life is still hard.

To simply show up and do your responsibilities for the glory of God is beautiful. Tired moms, caregivers, factory workers, shopkeepers, keep being brave. You may or may not have someone quietly watching you work, but your Heavenly Father is always watching!  Be encouraged! Your reward may never come during your time on earth, but may all of you who faithfully show up day after day for your God-given assignments hear those precious words from Him :

                                              " Well done, my good and faithful servant."

                                    (This post is also linked to the Encourage One Another link-up.)