In the city of Veria (otherwise known as Berea), Greece there is a mosaic of the apostle Paul. While it is is sad that it is known as “The Apostle Paul’s Altar,” one can still appreciate the skill and time it took to piece together. I had the privilege of seeing it in person in Summer, 2013 after the Deaf Olympics in Bulgaria. The team finished the evangelistic trip by spending a few days at the cities were the Gospel first entered continental Europe. Not only was it significant historically, but also personally as God used that trip to eventually make His will for my life clear as a church planting missionary to the Deaf in Romania!
What is so fascinating about any mosaic is that it is composed of hundreds, often thousands, of small bits of stone. Any single piece of rock is not the whole picture, nor could one discern the whole picture by just looking at one, or even a handful of pieces. The whole work is composed of the seemingly insignificant.
Many of us would quickly testify that we want to live a God-glorifying life. The rub comes in because instead of lots of big events that would make for a great biography, most of our life is seemingly menial and redundant. We tend to think of “glorifying God” as big experiences instead of a lifestyle. Jerry Bridges, in his book The Joy of Fearing God, wrote “Life is largely a mosaic of little things: routine events, everyday duties, and ordinary conversations. How we conduct ourselves in these circumstances determines largely whether we glorify God in our lives.”
This was recently driven home while Marie completed 160 hours of nursing clinicals over 6 weeks at a wound care clinic. Each day I was packing her lunch, preparing meals, changing diapers, keeping Serenity alive, and trying to accomplish the other tasks that were on my plate. I couldn’t point you to a specific moment or event, but there were times an impression of doubt about the proper use of my time as I was seemingly able to only put a small amount of my time into work directly related to deputation and other necessary work.
It’s been said by others, “How you do anything, is how you do everything.” It was freshly impressed on my heart that the hows, whats, and whys were the great determiners of the value of my days. How I did the dishes and played with Serenity, how and why I kept the house clean and orderly, what my attitude was in making the meals and packing Marie’s lunch, and how diligent I was with what else was on my plate, were all making the mosaic that would determine whether this short season of our lives would glorify God or not.
Thankfully, Marie is finished with all her required hours and paperwork and is just waiting the official stamp of approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing to formalize the license transfer from Maryland! I am a little more useful around the house, and much closer to Serenity now than before. I am also grateful for the meetings that were booked and that our current promised support is at 88%. I'm grateful the twins are still healthy and growing and are getting close to 3 lbs each, according to the last ultrasound! The season of Marie going off to work and me being a stay-at-home dad is currently over, but I pray that the lesson learned leaves a lasting impression. If anyone looked to see how, why, and with what attitude you and I did all the little things that make up our day, from work ethic and leisure time to driving behind a slow moving vehicle, would they say it makes a mosaic of glory to God?
P.S. Several of you have asked about how to help or if we have a gift registry for the twins. As promised we now have an Amazon baby registry for them! You can find it by clicking the button below, or by going to Amazon.com directly, and searching for the baby registry under "Marie Muldoon" month due: July, 2022.