Motherhood is Ministry
On the drive home from VBS yesterday, I saw a turtle attempt to cross the busy highway. I tried to avoid it the same way it tried to avoid me. When my kids asked why I slowed the car down, I told them about the turtle and, immediately, my middle-child burst into tears. “I want to pray to God that the turtle doesn’t get hurt. Can we pray to God, mom?” And so we did.
And then the Lord gave me the perfect transition. I said to them, “If we care for God’s creation, how much more should we care for those made in His image? How much more should our hearts break knowing that there are people—souls—that are on a path to destruction?” I explained the urgency of sharing the Gospel with our non-christian friends and I encouraged them to seek opportunities to have conversations with potential non-believers at this week.
On the drive home from VBS today, my son, Kaiden, told me that his Catholic friend was asking questions about why the kids were walking towards the front of the stage during our pastor’s invitation. Kaiden explained the Gospel ABC’s but his friend expressed that he believes priests are the mediator between us and God. Kaiden rebutted sharing that Jesus became our High Priest. We no longer need to go to a priest to confess because we can confess directly to God through Jesus.
Kaiden was able to articulate this because he’s heard me say it before. God used this to remind me once more that motherhood is ministry.
And yet, Satan likes to isolate us and make moms feel like we have no purpose and that our work is not valuable. He tries to reduce our work to seem as though it’s nothing more than changing diapers or cleaning up messes. He does this so that we fail to be missionally-minded in our homes. Moms, do not forget that we are sowing seeds. We are making disciples. We are raising up evangelists. We are training our kids to live righteous lives. We are passing truth on from generation to generation. We are pointing them to Jesus. And we have no idea how God will use the time, energy, words, and love we’ve poured into them to go and do the same for others.
Here’s the thing: we can change the diapers and clean the messes but miss the discipleship. Our kids will not naturally drift towards holiness. This is why they need us to teach them about righteous living. We have been entrusted with their precious souls and it is our job to plant seeds, water, and believe that God will give the growth.
Yesterday, I watered. Today, I saw a little fruit. But the fruit I saw didn’t grow overnight.
My son’s understanding of who Jesus is and how the Gospel changes the way we relate to God has come from years of conversations in the car, after school, before bed, and so forth. It’s a result of Ethan and I believing that theology matters and that it is our job as parents to answer the tough questions, seek out the right answers, and equip them to do the same for others.
Ultimately, his receptive heart is the work of the Spirit. I’m beginning to see it in my second child and am praying for it for my third. It is not up to me how the Holy Spirit chooses to move in them but it is up to me to labor in love day after day. May we not grow weary in doing good. May we have eyes to see the opportunities to train and disciple. May the Great Commission start in our homes. May we see motherhood as a ministry.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you...”