Jesus cared about doing the small things; you can too, mama

My 8-year-old-daughter has recently taken up sewing, to my simultaneous delight and chagrin. My delight because I too love sewing; my chagrin because her enthusiasm often outpaces my own abilities, namely, in the undertaking of tedious projects with no pattern.

Take, for example, the cloth doll diaper we designed and stitched up together. Granted, the design was fairly basic to draw up and scale. But the minuscule nature of the work, both for my hands and head, was enough to throw me into existential questioning. It was one of those moments when you wonder how the sum of your life decisions has amounted to this particular, strange experience.

Weeds are taking over our garden. Cobwebs inhabit every corner of our ceiling. Dinner plans are vague, and it’s past 3 p.m. Yet here I am wrapping a diaper around a doll for the third time to make sure it’s perfectly tailored before we hand-stitch each of the final snaps in place. Just when I think I’ve “done my time” for the day, I turn to find my second daughter, fabric scraps in hand, waiting excitedly for her turn to sew a doll quilt.

And so it goes.

Of course, there is immense value in spending time with your kids, and I realize that. My hang-up is with the activity itself, which almost feels like a squandering of time and resources. I mean, really—sewing diapers for a doll? Shouldn’t I just buy these on Amazon?

I’m certain you have moments like this, times when the word “stewardship” hangs around your neck like a heavy weight rather than an admonishment to do good. You wonder what you’re supposed to be doing with a dusty bachelor’s degree. You question your family’s financial decisions that didn’t quite throw you into the top tier of earners. You look around at your simple little life, and though it’s beautiful, it seems all too inconsequential.

During these times, it’s tempting for me to picture God as a successful businessman who wonders why His kids haven’t exactly carried on the income-generating tradition.

But then I think again about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever pondered the enormity of adolescent Jesus, the God of the universe, patiently learning from Joseph, an ordinary created one, how to sand wood, cut boards, and create from that which was created? There was our Maker, watching eagerly as his own handiwork carefully modeled for and instructed him in matters of wood and dust. Could there not have been more consequential things for Christ to spend His time doing, even at that age? The carpentry gig didn’t seem to pan out in the long run. Was learning and practicing it for years a frivolous waste of divine time?

Scripture rings out a resounding, “No.” Humbling himself to our position was exactly what Jesus came to do, and he delighted in doing it. Here’s Paul, in Philippians 2:6-7, laying out the plan:

“[He], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

For the first years of Jesus’ life, this looked like humbling himself under the tutelage of broken, common sinners —His earthly parents—to learn common, earthly skillsets and thrive in common, earthly routines. His grand salvific purpose almost always looked like a race toward the insignificant. Philippians 2 goes on:

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

Christ, who is our perfect example, never scorned the small. He met people in their weaknesses. He let the children come. He poured himself out like a drink offering for people whose lives are like a vapor. He died for the dead.

And then He rose, salvation and victory in His breath. Because of this freedom, I don’t need to walk around wondering if my life choices are cutting it. Opportunities to mirror Christ are as near to me as my daughter’s request to make a doll diaper.

When we had finished our project, she smiled at me and said, “I feel so much better! Peach has really needed a diaper for so long.”

And so, as is often the case, a little child understood Jesus better than her grown mother did. My daughter saw the dignity in a diaper, and she wanted to bless her doll by bestowing it. Isn’t that what God Almighty does for us? In Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit, he makes himself available. Christ sets aside His rights and might to give dignity to a people who could never acquire it on our own, restoring us to the Father and making us free.

Praise be to God for this tremendous gift! And praise be to Him for doll diapers and every other opportunity to follow Christ into the small.