How is {my ministry} defined?

I still remember the day I read Luke 1:6
with eyes illumined by the instruction of the Holy Spirit:

…They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and
requirements of the Lord…

One verse. 20 words. The summation of a long life lived for the Lord. This was the pronouncement of the Holy Spirit; the “well done, good and faithful servants”, spoken of two people who had gone unnoticed for years, but who had nontheless served their God faithfully, in the shelter of secret places – of heart and home, of minds and souls. I remember thinking to myself, “I would be thrilled for that one sentence to be said of me!”

For a brief moment in the history of the world, this couple was lifted from their obscurity and became the center of miracles, of God intervening in human affairs, of setting the stage for His next stage in the plan of redemption…and when it was over, the Scriptures do not speak of them again…but I am sure they continued on in the same way as before, both righteous in the sight of the God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord…

That day, true ministry from the heart was clearly defined to me. A single focus. A heart with one passion. A simple obedience. A goal worthy to aspire to…

And yet, my fallen heart constantly wanders astray…

That is probably the reason I loved this poem, shared at a conference I attended early in my walk as a spirit-filled Christian:

You know Lord, how I serve You,
With great emotional fervor
in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You
At the women’s club.
You know how I effervesce when
I promote a fellowship group.
You know my genuine enthusiasm
At a Bible Study

But how would I react, I wonder,
If You pointed to a basin of water,
And asked me to wash
The calloused feet of a
Bent, Wrinkled
Old Woman,
Day after day,
Month after month,
In a room where nobody saw,
And nobody knew.
(Author Unknown)