Go and Wash

My five-year-old entered our home office to find me staring at a blinking cursor on an otherwise blank screen.  “What are you doing in here, mommy?”  Not wanting to take the time to explain what a reflection is and why I was attempting to write one, I replied, “Mommy has some work to do.”  Widening her eyes, she said, “But Daddy works!”

And so, as happens from time to time, thoughts and feelings about my vocation and resulting life choices came bubbling to the surface.  Ten years ago, I never imagined a time when “wife and mother of four” would be my only job title.  Even after our second was born, I persevered in the balancing act of part-time work and full-time parenting.  But five years and two more children later, I find myself completely–and happily–immersed in the sanctifying chaos of family life.  This is my vocation–my path to sanctification.  Every day on this path I encounter the unexpected, but God faithfully provides the grace that allows me to thrive or survive, depending on the day.

In today’s first reading, Naaman, a respected army commander but also a leper, shows up at Elisha’s door.  He has made a long journey in search of healing, and fully expects that Elisha will cure him immediately.  Instead, the prophet tells him to “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”  I imagine Naaman’s first thought was, “I’ve come all this way and now you want me to do what?”  But God had a plan for Naaman’s sanctification.  It was unexpected yet ordinary, a simple act of surrender to God’s will: Go and wash…heal…be clean.

At this midpoint of Lent, we may be growing weary in our efforts to sanctify ourselves in preparation for Easter.  It can be easy to forget that God does the sanctifying– His grace is freely given when we ask and surrender.  As our journey to Easter continues, we might pause to reflect on our openness to God’s will, and our surrender to it.  Are we ready to receive God’s grace and mercy, to heal and be made clean?

Reflect on how Lent has been going for you this year.  Is God inviting you to something more, or something different?  Maybe something deceptively simple?  Pray for grace to surrender to God’s mercy.

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Jennifer (BMA 99, MSW 07) lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, Chris (BMA 98), and their four young daughters.  Previously a freelance musician and then a clinical social worker, she currently devotes her time and energy to nurturing their domestic church, which generates lots of laundry and is always hungry.
Email: [email protected]