Invisible WorkPatti - May 09, 2025
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I’ve titled this picture Invisible Work, but not for the reason you might think. There is a current trend in social media for moms to complain about the work they do that goes unrecognized. A mom has many tasks that often go unnoticed, or that nobody else thinks about: what time the kids need to wake up (and therefore how much earlier she needs to get up), keeping track of all the clothes and shoes, keeping the schedule, planning and shopping for meals, knowing that the dishwasher needs to be run now because there will be lots of dishes coming at the next meal, just to name a few. The eyes of our family often skim right over these tasks, but they nevertheless take up lots of space in our days and in our brains.
I was first inspired by this picture while loading the dishwasher during a visit from my in-laws. The top rack was full of glasses and double walled glass coffee cups, and even my 8 year old noticed that the eyes just skimmed right over the many dishes. I immediately thought, “this would be a great representation of invisible work.”
But as I was contemplating this image, I asked myself, does this actually represent my reality? This full dishwasher maybe demonstrated the care I’d taken to plan and prepare a meal for my in-laws. But it also represented a lovely afternoon spent with them, filled with good conversation. In fact, I had not done most of the loading: my mother in law and sister in law have eyes to see invisible work and did most of it for me.
But most of all, this picture represents to me the invisible work of my Father. He provides for my needs, most often through my husband who works hard so that we can afford things like beautiful glasses and a dishwasher. He blessed me with the four beautiful children who create all of the dirty dishes. He gives me strength and grace every morning to fulfil my responsibilities as a wife and mom. And he opens my heart to show hospitality. Sometimes my dishwasher is full from visiting family. Often it’s the coffee cups of friends who come for singing and Bible study every Saturday. Or water glasses from the group of women who meet at my house every few weeks to pray for our kids and schools. Or maybe it’s full of the kid cups and plates that all the neighbor kids used while playing in our backyard one afternoon. But none of that would have been possible without the invisible stirring of my heart by the Holy Spirit to say “come on over” instead of “that’s too much work.”
My work is sometimes invisible and overwhelming. But the invisible work of God more than adequately equips me to accomplish it with grace and joy.