…..go to Africa, start a non-profit, rescue women from sex trafficking, adopt orphans in China……
Yes, those are all good things and there is nothing wrong with doing them, unless it is not the season for it or the calling God has given you. Lately I have heard multiple people from different places talk about their passions and ministries. These are BIG things that are changing lives and allowing God to show off big time. I sit in awe of these women and how they have allowed their passion to drive them to doing great things. I often feel guilty that I am not doing something note worthy. I don’t have a mission trip to any where planned (unless you count the grocery store- hey anywhere can be a mission field!). I am not starting a non-profit or rescuing women. I am not in the process of adopting an orphan.
In fact, I am smack dab in the middle of motherhood. I have 4 kids that God has entrusted me with. I happen to stay home with them, but you may be a working mom. Either way, if you are a mother, God has given you and me a big responsibility in that role. I hear this statement and I have said it myself so many times, “I am just a mom”. It doesn’t seem very glamorous or big. It doesn’t have the wow factor I feel like it needs.
Guess what? God planted you where you are for a reason. He purposed you, right where you are. You don’t have to do anything more then love your kids. Be the mother they need. Be the wife your husband needs. We can make an incredible mark on this world by accepting the calling that is in our own homes. We have the power to affect generations through our children. The way we parent our kids today will reflect our children’s children, and their children and so on. When you look at the big picture, you see that our jobs as mothers really are BIG. They matter. They mean something.
Today, your job as a mother might seem small. It might seem as though no one notices or cares. It might seem thankless. It really might take 18 years for all your hard work to pay off, but one day, you are going to see the fruit of your labor of love and you will be able to step back and bask in it.
I think God wants us all to be obedient to the calling He places on our hearts. He wants us to be willing and ready to take on whatever he asks of us but also to lay down things he hasn’t asked us to carry. This one is difficult for me. I have been on the search for a meaningful calling for so long and have neglected the fact that being a mom is a meaningful calling. I feel strongly that God is saying “you are enough, who you are matters, lay down your search for meaning, and I will show it to you”.
I decided to share my thoughts on this for several reasons, but the main one is, I hear so many other moms who struggle with thinking they aren’t doing enough. We compare our journeys instead of seeking God to see where He wants us. We place our desire to be seen and accepted in front of the desires God has laid out for us. We wrestle with the desire to feel significant and search for that BIG thing God is going to do through us. For me, I have found that right now, that big thing is right in front of me. Actually, it is at my feet, hanging on my leg, begging for another piece of candy. Ahhhhh Motherhood, right now, it is my BIG calling.
If you find yourself struggling with this season of life, please join me as I pray for other moms just like myself. As I pray for other women who are serving their callings in Africa, in orphanages, starting schools, or rescuing others. There is no woman who has a greater or better calling, just different. We all need to band together and support and love one another. My prayer is that we can become a big community of women who love one another deeply.
If you enjoyed this post please feel free to share it, and also check out this post on seasons. {so glad I reread that and reminded myself of my own words!}
All the things 