The Beauty in the Humble

Daily Gratitude Year 7- Day 338: Today, I am grateful the humblest tasks can be beautiful.

This quote tugged at my heart today:

"The humblest tasks get beautified when loving hands do them." - Louisa May Alcott. Little Women

Changing a diaper. Wiping the drool from an aging loved ones mouth. Taking out the garbage. Zipping a child's coat. These are humble tasks, but when performed with love, they become beautiful. 

What acts of help and hope can we offer today?  Kindness is more intentional than accidental... but when the behavior is repeated, it becomes reflexive. 

My Mama's side of the family had certain ways of doing things. We just shared a Thanksgiving meal and we followed the patterns we learned from our Grandmother and our mothers. The children and those who needed help were served first. The men followed the children. And finally, the women filled their plates. I don't know if it was learned from the German influence on the Guttendorf side. I do know it was that way things were done and no one questioned it. There are many humble tasks performed with love when families gather for holiday meals. 

I think of Mary on the night of Jesus's birth. This act of love from the weary hands of a new mother:

She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. -Luke 2:7

She wrapped him in strips of cloth and placed him in a wooden manger for a bed. Can we even begin to imagine such a night in a stable? Wrapping the child to protect him from the evening chill and to make him feel snug and safe. Mother's still swaddle babies, but in our country most deliver in far more comfortable circumstances. 

It must have been a moment of beauty and awe as Joseph watched Mary perform her first simple acts of mothering. I imagine that moment was forever imprinted on his heart, too. 

Perhaps, he shared a cup of water with her for refreshment after her labor and delivery. Or, maybe he fed her some bread. Love can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. 

Today, I am grateful the humblest tasks can be beautiful.