Do Everything With a Dash of Love

It's a cliche-- the secret ingredient is love in that fabulous recipe.  Cheesy things like this always make me want to roll my eyes,  but today, I stopped to think-- what do I really do out of love?

Putting the kids to bed always seems like a chore I need to hurry through-- it is stressful, takes way too long, and I am always worried they are not getting enough sleep.  The laundry has to be done-- quickly, with as little folding as possible.  The chores are whipped through, the kids dropped off at activities, homework is a battlefield.  What is done in love?  Meals are eaten haphazardly; I've turned into a short order cook.  I don't enjoy cooking, I don't enjoy the running, I don't enjoy the housekeeping.  What is done in love?

I realized I looked at this the wrong way-- I don't love doing these tasks; therefore, I put minimal love and care into them.  Once again, it is all about me: managing my boredom in this fast-pace world.  And I know I am not alone.

My challenge this week is not to do these mundane tasks in  a hurry, but to take my time with them, and to do them well, so that my family sees that I want to provide for them the best I can.
This will mean tackling some chores I absolutely hate and taking an extra few minutes at bedtime to listen and have a little conversation.

In this Valentine's season, I need to leave my anxiousness to "hurry up" in the closet,  slow down, listen and savor.  I need to do it not out of personal enjoyment, but I need to do it out of love.  And, believe me, in this culture where it is all about you, it can be hard to do. But I think I might reap a lot of the benefits if I do-- daily tasks will not be boring, they will be love letters to my family.