Mothering as Ministry

For some reason today the idea of mothering as ministry came to my mind. I have heard this expression used many times and just never really "thought" about exactly what that means. It is very easy as a mother to get caught up in "the doing" of being a Mom and so easy to forget the "why." It's my observation that some people simply put a check mark next to the having kids item on their "checklist of life." Have kids...meet their needs...grow them up...move on. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I know this is true. You meet so few Moms anymore who really have a purpose to their parenting. The bible says that children are like arrows. Arrows need to be pointed in the right direction. They don't just hit the target all by themselves. You can't just shoot up in the air and hope you hit the target. It takes thought, precision, good equipment etc... Seeing the target isn't good enough...you must aim for it and hit it for it to count for anything. Children are so much more important.

As the wife of an assistant Pastor I see a lot of things in ministry. I see the good, the bad and the down right ugly. As a Mom you see...the good, the bad and the ugly. Do you see where I'm going with this? Anytime you deal with people you have to deal with quirks, emotions, sensitivities etc.. A good leader knows how to handle these things and uses them to bring out the best in people. A mother should do the same. Every child has things that drive us crazy, things that we absolutely love and things that are ugly and we just want to do whatever we can to get rid of the "ugly" trait. This is what I'm saying...do your best as a Mom to treat your children as your ministry. Just as a good Pastor would strive to lead and bring out the best in his congregation a mother should do the same for her children. It's not always easy (in case you didn't notice), it's not always pretty and it certainly won't win you any popularity contest with your children...DO IT ANYWAY! Minister to them, meet their needs, capitalize on their strengths, help them with their weaknesses and most important, help them learn to tame that "ugly" sin nature we all have. And just like a good pastor's heart would be to make sure all his people are saved...make sure that your children know the Good News of Christ and do all that's in your power to keep their hearts tender to it. I've had more than one person tell me I'm strict (I hate terms like this) but whatever... you can think what you want about that. I like to think I'm a guardian of my kids hearts and mind. If I don't do it you better believe that satan will be more than willing to do it for me. I'd also like to add here that for every bad thing I don't allow, I replace it with something good and wholesome and the kiddos are happy and healthy and by God's grace their hearts are tender. I'm not going to let the world dictate to me what my kids "need." God tells me in His Word exactly what they need and I can say for sure it doesn't come from the poor excuses of entertainment on TV or the ridiculous role models out there. So be vigilant...satan sure is!

So this is just something that I had on my heart and just thought I'd type it out. Maybe it will encourage you to really be a mother who ministers and not just a mother who goes through the task of mothering. Blessings.