On Repeat

Lately I feel like my life as a mom is on repeat. You know the kind of repeat I’m talking about.
The chores that have been done for years still need instructions.
The kids are all in school and know they have homework… and yet I’m still saying, “Did you get your homework done?” multiple times a week.
The animals need to be fed every morning and every evening… and someone still needs a reminder.
The kitchen is closed for the night… and someone still wants a snack.
The room is a mess… and I’m walking through the same steps of how to pick it up for the third day in a row.

Hang the wet towels.
Don’t throw them on the floor.
Don’t put them wet in the laundry basket.

Eat at the table, not in the bedroom.

Don’t overflow the trash can — if it’s full, take it out and change the bag.

I could go on and on. Some days it feels like no matter how many times I’ve said something… I’m still saying the same thing again. And again. And again.

The other day I was listening to the audio Bible in the car and working my way through the book of Numbers. (Yes...on purpose.) My youngest was sitting there with me while it played through the speakers. After a few minutes he asked,
“Why are you listening to this again?”
I told him, “I’m not. This is a new chapter.”
But his question stuck with me.

If you’ve ever read Numbers, you know what he meant. It sounds like repetition. Laws repeated. Instructions repeated. Reminders repeated. Over and over again.
Suddenly it hit me. The whole rest of the book started to sound like God… on repeat.

He repeated Himself.
His laws.
His mercy.
His instructions.
His grace.
And then started over again! Not just once or twice either - for forty years!!
He was speaking to His people that had lived with Him physically in their presence giving them their everyday needs and instructions on how to live in the dessert with Him. They had seen things I can only imagine.
They had watched the Red Sea split open.
They followed God in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.
They ate manna that appeared every morning.
They drank water from a rock when they were thirsty.
And still… God repeated Himself.
Over and over again.

Reading it this time felt different.
I’ve read Numbers before. But this time it landed in a new place in my heart. I love how God does that with His Word. It’s the same book, the same chapters, the same verses… but somehow He reveals something new every time we come back to it.

Scripture calls His Word living.
“For the word of God is alive and active.”
— Hebrews 4:12

And it really is. It meets us right where we are. In my twenties, I might have read Numbers and thought about God being in the details while I worked long weeks and tried to figure out my career.
Now, in this season of raising boys and repeating myself all day long… I read it and think, Oh. So God repeats Himself too.
Maybe the repetition isn’t failure. Maybe it’s faithfulness in the task He's given me to raise and train young boys to be good men. 
Here’s the other thing that struck me.

My son was listening. He heard the repetition. He noticed it. Which means that even when I think no one is paying attention… they are.

Maybe that’s how God feels with us sometimes. He repeats Himself because He knows we need to hear it again.
And again.
And again.
Not because our faith is weak. Not because our desire to follow Him isn’t real.
But because forgetfulness and wandering and needing reminders… that’s just part of the human condition.
That’s why Scripture says things like:
“Write them on your hearts… talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road.”
— Deuteronomy 6:6–7

In other words… keep repeating them.
So maybe repeating myself as a mom isn’t wasted breath after all. Maybe it’s just part of the work. Faithfulness often sounds like repetition.

The grace given in those 40 years.... 
This is God patiently repeating Himself to people He loves. Not without frustrations,  corrections, and consequences... but with a desire to draw them closer to Him. His faithfulness to His people (present day included) is setting the example.... He is teaching us how to respond in our own repetition with others. This doesn't always look like chores... It can also be repeating love, mercy, humility, integrity.... 

Is there something in your life right now that feels repetitive or unnoticed? What if that repetition is actually part of the faithful work God has placed in your hands?

Lord, thank You for Your patience with us. Thank You that You don’t grow tired of reminding us of Your truth, Your mercy, and Your love. Help me to be patient in the places where life feels repetitive, trusting that even small reminders and daily faithfulness matter more than I can see. Amen.

Until next time, keep following the Plott, and I will be praying for us all. šŸ’›

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