I stifled a groan for the sake of the gentleman behind the
counter. He was the second employee to diligently search the photo desk for the
pictures I had ordered three hours earlier for 1-hour photo service. Try as he might, the photos
simply weren’t there. I thanked him and half-heartedly pushed my cart on to get
the milk, eggs, and other groceries we needed, but now my trip felt like a work
in futility. I needed the photos. Tomorrow I would have to bundle up four kids
and come back to Walmart for the third time in a week. No one ever warned me how much time a stay-at-home-mom spends out of the house running errands.
The feeling of defeat stayed with me that night, especially
when my cell phone chimed as I tucked my kids into bed: my photos were ready
for pickup. The next morning dawned a cloudy February day with the clear memory
of unfinished business. Errands. What I wouldn’t give to stay home instead and
read to my kids or even clean the bathroom. I picked up the book I was reading
to prepare for our history lesson—and there was Nathanael Greene.
Who is Greene? He was afraid you would say that. Nathanael
Greene was a self-taught Rhode Island native who arrived on the scene of the
American Revolution outside Boston in 1775 and stayed until the Treaty of Paris
was signed. Most people who do know him remember him as the general who
outsmarted Cornwallis and saved the South from the British. Before that, however,
he played a critical if forgotten role to ensure there would be an army to
fight the British. During the Valley Forge winter of 1778, Nathanael Greene was
made quartermaster of the Continental Army. In other words, he became
Washington’s chief grocery shopper.
What did Greene think of appointment? He told Washington,
“Nobody ever heard of a quarter master in history.” Plenty of civilians did
hear of him though, and wince. Merchants grimaced when he entered their stores to shop with worthless American paper currency. Farmers hid their harvests,
hoping to instead make it to market where the British would pay them in coin.
His wagon drivers faced roads rutted with winter rain—although mostly there
weren’t wagons available. When supplies did arrive at camp, it was never enough
to last for long. Quartermaster was not what this self-made man who read Julius
Caesar aspired to be. He wrote to his friend General McDougall, “All of you
will be immortallising your selves in the golden pages of History while I am
confined to a series of [drudgeries] to pave the way for it.” As he saw it, he
had been “taken out of the Line of splendor.”
That’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it? Like Greene,
I see the articles other people write, the projects they undertake, the
ministry opportunities out there, and the many ways I could be meaningfully
engaging this world. Yet the minute I sit down to write out a great thought,
we’re out of bread. Let’s face it: most of the mom-job involves mundane tasks easily categorized as “drudgeries.” Laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning,
wiping noses, changing diapers, putting on shoes and zipping up jackets, and,
of course, going on errands to buy the supplies needed to keep a small army of
people fed and dressed—though never for long enough. Instead of writing, I find
myself in line at Walmart, wondering how many times I can possibly tell my
children “no” before the cashier is done ringing up our purchase. This is not
glorious. This is not the stuff worth recording on the scrolls of history.
Splendor passes further out of reach each day as the hamper fills with dirty
clothes again.
How is a heart to persevere in hope amid futility? By
looking to the One who didn’t just provide bread, but who is the Bread of Life.
Jesus came to be bread. “I
am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world
is my flesh” (John 6:51). He came to give Himself, to lay down His life, to
serve. He is notably recorded in history, but not as conqueror of the Roman
world. He could have conquered, but what His people needed most was for someone
to bear their sin and the righteous wrath of God which they justly deserved.
They needed a perfect sacrifice—a Savior.
Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing
to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born
in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians
2:5b-8)
Jesus could have come in full glory as conqueror and king.
Someday He will (Revelation 19:11-16). But first He came to serve. He came as
the Bread of Life that we might eat of Him, of His perfect righteous and grace,
and find our salvation in Him. And what are we to do while we wait for Him to
come again as king?
Do
nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)
We are to grow like Him, serving the other people He puts in
our lives in His name. We’re to get the groceries, the clean clothes, the
bigger shoes, and even the new crayons our families need in an attitude of loving
service. The truth is, my children are not inconveniencing or interrupting my
ministry for Jesus. My children are my ministry—a ministry given to me by
Jesus. They may not always be the only one, but at present they are the primary
one. The chores of motherhood aren’t glorious, but they are Jesus’ calling on
my life. Whether or not they are remembered in history doesn’t matter. He will
remember them, and He will remember the attitude in which I did them.
In a day when we carry social media in our pockets, moms
can be as tempted as worldly generals to compete for laurels. Let’s take a
lesson from history and not. Greene grumbled about his job, but he did it
better than quartermaster before or after him. When he finally became general
of a southern army, it barely existed. British General Cornwallis won most of
the battles, but it didn’t matter. Greene fought not just as a soldier, but as
an expert grocery shopper. One retreat after another, he tempted the British further
away from their supply lines. Seeking to gain total victory by moving faster, Cornwallis burned
his own supply wagons and neglected to feed his soldiers. Eventually his army collapsed
and hunger drove the British to Yorktown. Mamas, let’s not neglect our troops. Our
children don’t need us to make a name for ourselves on Facebook or wow the
world of women’s ministries. They don’t need moms immortalized in history. They
need our time, our attention, and our work. They need us to care for them,
teach them, and love them. Like us, they need the Bread of Life. Let’s help
them find Him by serving them by His grace, with His heart, and in His name—even when it means making one more trip to Walmart.
______________________
All Nathanael Greene quotes were taken from Washington's General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution by Terry Golway (NY, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2004. P. 165).
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