The Turning Point of Motherhood: Half a Year Later

Half a year ago I shared a post about the turning point of motherhood when I began turning my daily tasks into prayer.

When I wrote that, the concept was new and exciting, it felt easy to apply those concepts to everything I did. My days felt really woven in prayer, and I did my chores with a willingness I had never experienced before.

Over the past few months of trying to make this idea a habit, it has not always felt so easy, nor so exciting, and I thought it was time I shared about where it has taken me.

As I mentioned in the post I shared above, there are inevitable slumps of motherhood where my tasks feel especially monotonous and tedious.

I happen to be in one of those slumps now.

Folding the laundry does not feel like the love song it was so many months ago.

Vacuuming the floor and washing the dishes after supper feels more monotonous than ever with Ignatius adding so much more to the overall mess.

Where has that willingness to accomplish chores, and the grace I felt in them, gone?

Why do I feel the monotony of it all, all over again?

Was it All For Nothing?

In that time of grace, offering my daily tasks for intentions felt easy and fruitful. As I folded a tiny pair of pants and prayed for the baby they belonged to, or for Tharin as I tucked his socks together, I would feel an outpouring of grace which made it so much easier to move on to my next task.

Now it is a great act of will to offer the barest of intentions as I do my tasks, an act of obedience to do many of these tasks at all.

Feeling this way could easily make me give up, or cause me to think that there was no real change, no real development.

Is it true that all that excitement and hope I felt really amounted to nothing in the end?

Do these intentions offered as I struggle through a task, separated from that palpable overflowing of grace, mean less?

All that Goes Into the Building Process

Actually, I think they mean more.

And even though I do not necessarily feel the effects of the grace I am receiving as I continue to offer up my work as prayer, this does not mean that no change is continuing to take place.

In fact, in order to grow in virtue, as is the purpose of this sanctifying work, I am doing exactly what is to be expected.

Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace [...] with God's help they forge character." CCC 1810

I like to compare this process to the building of a new house.

At first, the excitement of this life-changing idea made it easy to implement and I saw big changes, similar to when a new house is framed, and all at once, there is the structure of a house where once there was nothing.

But once the framework is up, next comes the wiring and the plumbing, interior work which is a lot less obvious.

This is what follows the initial excitement of a new habit or idea, this is where I must choose to persevere in order to see continued growth and progress.

It will not be obvious and it will not be easy.

In order for this idea to permeate my life, to sanctify my actions and my motherhood, it has to be a continued habit through deliberate effort, struggle and ultimately, the power of grace working through and purifying my imperfect offering.

When I choose to continue in faithfulness, persevering with what God has shown me to be good and sanctifying in my life, especially when it takes most effort, there is so much room for growth.

Keep On Building

So I persevere in offering my tasks up as prayers and intentions, even though I do not feel the grace of it. I continue to treat my duty of the moment as my duty to God, even though He does not feel close in them.

And I know that I am strengthened for this duty, even if I do not feel I am.

Without a doubt, my motherhood, even in this slump, is being sanctified as I sacrifice, and persevere, and continue to be diligent.

Without a doubt, the interior work going into the building of this spiritual house will mean a more beautiful home in the long run.


Want to read the book that first inspired me to do the duty of the moment with cheerfulness? Catherine Doherty, in all her wisdom, really changed my life through The People of the Towel and Water.


To read a bonus post on how I keep our home orderly, even when I have little motivation, join our email list by clicking the link below, and I will send you some exclusive content, right to your inbox.



Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you. I would also love to hear any suggestions for posts you would like me to write about. And if you are interested in following along in our daily adventures, follow us on Instagram where I post daily.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer