we can't all be queen bees

DOING YOUR JOB

I have this crazy habit of speaking in metaphors. Some tell me it's a real talent and others think it's kind of weird. Nonetheless, I use metaphors to teach my children about things that I think are important. Today I was talking to my teenage daughter about marriage and being grown up and I shared something with her that I discovered a couple of days ago. She was very impressed and thought that I should share it with you, so...here goes.

I love my life as a wife and a mother, but sometimes doubts creep in and make me wonder, "am I doing enough?". I mean, we are supposed to be leading people to Christ. This is our "purpose" in life, but as a wife and a mother, my main “job“ is taking care of my husband and raising my babies. Shouldn't I be more involved in this activity or that ministry? Some actually are and find that they don't have enough time after ministry to do the mundane of taking care of their family, but they reason that their "purpose" is more important than their "job".

Yesterday I was watching "Reading Rainbow" with my 4 year old and they were telling the kids about bees. They told about how some bees do nothing but repeatedly flap their wings in order to regulate the temperature in the hive. Talk about mundane. Other bees, gather food. Some build cones and attend to the baby bees as they hatch while others hover around and protect the hive from predators and other "robber" bees.

Then the announcer said something that really caught my attention. He said the main "purpose" of the bees was to pollinate flowers so that they would reproduce and grow more flowers. Whoa! Think about that. Their main "purpose" is to pollinate flowers, but their "job" has nothing to do with flowers whatsoever. Their main "job" is to make baby bees. Everything they do, regulating temp, gathering food, building cones, protecting the hive, etc is all about making baby bees, but when the bees do their "job", their "purpose" fulfills itself quite naturally and easily.

Wow! That was quite a picture for me. My main "job" in life is to care for my family, but when I love my family, and teach my children and let others see me doing this, my "purpose" (to win others to Christ) comes naturally and easily for two main reasons. The first reason and most obvious, would be that I will win my children to Christ. The second and somewhat less obvious reason would be that extended family and friends, neighbors, etc, will see my functioning happy family and want what I have. Then they will see Christ and want Him too.

Now if you back up to the bees a second. Stop and think, if the bees decided that they should take their focus away from their "job" -- away from making baby bees -- and place it on their designated "purpose" –- pollinating flowers -- because it's more important, what would happen? This generation of bees would pollinate many flowers and when they were gone?

Everyone have a blessed day!