Ministering out of my God-given identity

Mother.

Besides being a daughter of the King, being a Mother is the identity I'm most passionate about. I LOVE being a mom. In fact, when we began filling out paperwork to hopefully adopt a child, we were asked WHY we wanted to adopt. The answer I kept coming back to was: I'm passionate about being a mom and for me, it is the most impactful way to serve the Lord: raising up children in the Love of God.

I've heard so many women, especially missionary moms, say, "I'm just a mom." Or, "I'm just at home with my kids." How can we belittle that? I'm not trying to be all feministic but truly, when you think of all that a mother, a really good mother does, it truly is a work that only the Holy Spirit can do through us.

Waking in the night for feedings, handling stinky and disgusting messes, sacrificing alone time, always thinking of the best ways to feed, discipline and teach our children...the list goes on and on.

Some of my "daughters"

I have been reading a book called Serving Well by Jonathan and Elizabeth Trotter and came to the realization that being a "MOM", not only to my own children but to so many others I pour into, truly is my calling. Elizabeth Trotter mentions 1 Thessalonians 2:7 where Paul talks about his ministry and said, "We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children." Paul saw the value of mothering, nurturing, and gentle love and care.

"This motherly care is not weak. It's not unnecessary or irrelevant or dispensable. It is strength. Resiliency. ESSENTIAL." - Elizabeth Trotter

For so many years I thought that real ministry is when you have an official program like a Bible study or a class or discipleship group. But in the last 5 years or so I've realized over and over again that the way Jesus ministered on earth was through relationships. Showing love, caring for needs, teaching and correcting, and serving everyone he met. And it's so exciting because that is what God has gifted me with! I LOVE people and "mothering" comes so naturally to me. In our years here in Uganda we seem to take so many youth under our wings. Whether through sponsoring them through school, one on one time in which we counsel and pray with them, or playing with them in our yard along with our other children.

Carson and his best friend Jonathan

Just yesterday we had about 15 kids playing in our yard, some on the trampoline, some cooking pretend food in the playhouse. I heard angry crying and came out to discover 2 four year olds whose fighting over guavas led them to punch each other in the nose! I sat down to talk it out, holding each of their hands in mine. By the end I had them say sorry to each other and hug. All the other children had gathered around at that point and watched the whole thing. When I returned to hanging laundry, I had to smile to myself at that cool teaching moment God had given me.

This is Florence. We are sponsoring her through school so she can follow her dreams of being a women's rights lawyer.

I hope that you hear my heart and know that I'm not trying to pat myself on the back for all we've done. I wish I could express how life changing this has been to realize that yes, this is my identity. This is who God made me. A woman who loves to mother and care for others. So it's OK, in fact, it's WONDERFUL that I'm using that gift in other peoples' lives. I don't need to belittle it and tell myself I'm not doing enough. Stepping up to care for someone and nurture them through this hard life when they're feeling alone and hopeless can surely change a life around. I've seen it time and time again.

Godfrey is another "son" we have sponsored through school. In this photo we took sodas and birthday cake to his boarding school to celebrate his birthday.

Those of us who have children know that from the time we find out we're pregnant, we have to eat and care for our bodies for the sake of those little babies growing inside of us. And then when they're born we have to continue to eat well, drink enough, and get enough sleep in order to keep up our milk supply to nourish our babies. The final point the author of Serving Well made is that in order for us to serve and love others, we need to make sure getting our spiritual nourishment. Time spent alone with God, in prayer and in His Word is so critical to serve and give of ourselves.

 Just today I was holding our neighbor's baby boy, who was diaperless of course and when he peed on me his mother was horrified and embarrassed. I quickly waved at her and said, "Don't worry my dear. I'm a mother. I'm used to this."