Today, My Ministry is Motherhood

I was fortunate to be raised in a family that loved to serve in church. Since I was a child I remember being at the church anytime the doors were opened—and not just for services. We cleaned the church, we knocked doors every Saturday, we visited the nursing home, and many other things. If the Pastor announced they needed help, you can bet that my mom was signing us up as volunteers. This teaching taught me to do the same and from the time I was old enough to volunteer on my own, I did. I rarely said no to church related work and I looked forward to serving when I could. I don’t say this to put myself on a pedestal, I say this to give you a background on who I am and why I think the way I do.

My heart beats for ministry. I find a great joy in serving at church and working to grow the kingdom of God. My husband is an active minister at our local church and I have been blessed to support him and serve alongside him through our marriage.

When we had our two children I did not slow down in church. If it was an activity that would be hard to have the kids at, we left them with my parents. Otherwise, they went with us and as they got a little older they were even able to help at certain activities.

We recently had our third baby and suddenly my life has changed. Our newest child came at a time when my husband and I were transitioning out of youth pastoring and into a new ministry. I also took a small leave from the music team while I am adjusting to life with three little ones (I can’t even imagine trying to make it to an 8 am practice right now!) and with many other transitions I now spend more time in the pews with my three boys than I ever have before.

I started missing having something to do when I showed up to church. My only responsibility now in church was to make it on time, wrestle with my kids during worship, and spend the rest of the service in the nursery with the baby. I missed ministry, or at least what I called ministry.

I have struggled with this and searched for answers and prayed that God would help me get back to those things again. But last night as I spent another midweek worship service nursing the baby in the nursery, my eyes were opened. I’m trying to get back into the role I called ministry and I have been fighting the role God calls ministry.

Yes, all of the serving I have done in church has been important and it is necessary, but my ministry right now is to be a mom to these three boys He has given me.  My boys don’t need to see me on the platform every service, they need to see me worship next to them, holding their hands. My boys don’t need to see me leaving for another event, they need to see me praying in our home. My boys don’t need to hear me plan another activity, they hear me teach them about the beautiful God we serve.

I want my boys to grow up and love ministry the way my husband and I do. But they don’t have to learn that by only seeing me busy—busy isn’t necessarily ministry. Ministry starts by loving people and I can teach them that by first loving them.

This season of young kids isn’t forever, I will have the opportunity to spend church service times serving again. But for now, my ministry is motherhood. It may not always be easy, but it’s the greatest ministry I could ever be called to do.