Building A Cathedral

Recently I was sent an email from one of my personal life heroines entitled "The Invisible Woman." Perhaps you have seen the video or read the story. The basic premise is this...women, moms, grandmothers, aunts, girlfriends, by nature are nurturers, doing for everyone around us often times to the detriment of ourselves, our wants and wishes and dreams. All of us probably at one time or another can identify with being invisible. I was looking back at my status updates from last year on Facebook and realized more than any other status, I wrote..."I am invisible today."

I tend to be dramatic (no! Really???? I bet you knew that already!) but even as I love my life, my family, my job, my child, my friends...there are times that I just feel invisible around them all. It seems as if my work never ends, that others around me are the beneficiaries of my skills, talents, nurture and care and yet, there are not a lot of standing ovations when I walk in a room. Truthfully, more often than not there is just a look of disdain as I walk in front of the tv screen. It is the burden of being a mom and a wife. It is a burden I gladly bear for the ones I love, but it is not without scrapes and scars on my psyche! :-)

The video and story of "The Invisible Woman" does more than just bemoan the trials and tribulations of an under appreciated woman. It also tells the story, in comparison, of the builders of the great cathedrals in Europe centuries ago. The amount of time and detail that these talented carpenters, sculptors and painters took over the the most painstakingly minute aspects of these architectural masterpieces is staggering. Most spent their entire lives working on a project that they would never see finished. They gave their blood, sweat and tears to the greater work, so that all these years later we could enjoy their work and ultimately be brought into God's glorious presence within those walls. The cathedrals are named for the Saints or for their locations or many other ancient namesakes, but you will not find the names of all the workers who gave all of themselves to create the actual building. They are the nameless, faceless "invisible"cathedral builders of long ago.

I am trying to dwell on this story tonight as I sit in my home feeling as though I donned an invisibility cloak about two hours ago. I know that everything I am doing is being seen. El Roi, the God who sees...knows what the intent of my heart is when I am folding laundry, doing dishes, cleaning toilets and making dinner for my family, even though that dinner has now sat untouched for quite awhile because they are too busy playing to come to the table.

I know that I am building my own kind of cathedral, raising a daughter, a project that bears no guarantee I will ever see completed, but I build it anyway. I strive every day to point her in the right direction by doing the right things myself. I try to show her how to be a wife, to submit as unto the Lord, even when it is hard and a struggle. I try to show her by example how to care for the ones she loves so that one day, when she is an invisible cathedral builder herself, she will be able to rest securely like I do, that it is not for nothing, that it is important and the tasks, however minute and ordinary are never too much when done for the ones we truly love.

Living Happily in the Moment!
Beverly