The third alarm sounds from across the room, the one set to get us out of bed. My husband gets up, turns on the light, and goes off to shave. I sit upright and grab my prayer books, opening to my morning prayers.
Wednesday. Another day of homeschooling my four kids. If everyone stays focused, I could have time that afternoon to read some theology and maybe get something written. I head over to the shower mentally prepping for the day, and hear my husband wake the kids.
Clean and dressed, I find my kids in various stages of readiness. The kindergartener is still finishing his egg. The second-grader is gathering her books. The fourth-grader is deep into her third subject. My sixth grader plans her science experiment.
The warm sun penetrates the cold as it shines through the east-facing window over the breakfast nook, and I sit down with my food and coffee, pulling up the Liturgy of the Hours on my phone. I pray a few Psalms when my fourth grader asks for her math lesson. Pushing aside my desire to finish my prayers, I make a short prayer asking for the grace to respond to the call of Christ in my child before me.
This is what I am called to today. This is my purpose and for what I am made.
“For this purpose I have come” (Mark 1:38). These are the Lord words today in the Gospel after He healed Simon’s mother-in-law so that she could wait on them, healed many sick in body and soul, and then He goes off to pray alone to be close to His Father. He was sent to do all of these things, and to preach to the villages.
Sister, for what purpose did He make you?
It has not ever been easy to respond to the daily call to live up to my purpose. I struggle often with distraction and sloth. But when I bring my spiritual sickness to the Lord, He heals me, and then I can get up and wait on Him.
When I bring my spiritual sickness to the Lord, He heals me. // @susannacspencerClick to tweet
Pray over this Scripture passage and ask the Lord to show you His purpose for you today.
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Content and Theological Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew; narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God; a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up; and Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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