I remember the exact weekend I realized the
Lord leading me to marry my now husband. I called my mom on the phone and said,
“But how can I marry him? I think he wants lots of kids and wants to homeschool
them! I’m called to travel and preach on stages!”
Since I was little I had seen visions of myself
preaching on stages to thousands of people and now I was facing motherhood? I
was finishing up my college degree at the time and had an incredible job at one
of the world’s most famous Christian organizations. I was going places…but not
with kids.
It took one movie to change my life. The
Passion Of The Christ. No, I’m kidding, it was actually Cheaper By The Dozen. I
saw that hot mess of a house and dirty kids running around and
somehow---somehow---was in love with the idea. God had changed my heart. He
showed me stages aren’t the only places the Gospel is preached.
I grew up thinking if you love Jesus with all
your heart you travel and preach the Gospel on stages. You hold gatherings, not
babies. Fast forward almost 10 years of marriage and four kids later and I'm
not on a stage: I'm IN one.
In this stage I see the Gospel preached day in
and day out. Let's face it, my two year old? She is NOT saved! My daily
life gives me plenty of opportunities to preach Jesus to people--- specifically
four little people… Nation, Solomon, Moses, and Heaven.
I’ve heard the call to being a stay at home
mom. I’ve heard the call to homeschool my kids. Not because being a homeschool
mom is a higher calling than a mom in the workplace or a mom on a stage, but
because it was the call on my life.
I’m so glad I answered it.
Has it been tough? Yes. Impossible at times?
Yes.
But has it been overwhelmingly beautiful as
well? Absolutely.
I think one day we will still travel, and I think
one day there may still be literal stages, but I want to live fully in the
stage of today. I want to be completely content and joyfully present today. I
know that the changing of diapers is just as spiritual and valuable to the Lord
as the changing of medical dressings in a hospital and just as valuable as
helping change a stranger's path from eternal death to enteral life by
preaching the Gospel with words.
Someone has to do it. Someone has to answer to
the call to love, comfort, and teach the next generation--- to the next
evangelist or missionary or… mommy. After all, maybe the stages that will be
preached on won’t be preached on by me, but rather by part of me--- my little
disciples. I can imagine their voices echoing in a stadium.
All the work we dedicate to the Lord is holy.
Motherhood is holy. Staying at home is holy. Working outside the home is holy.
Wherever God calls and we obey becomes holy.
I have had to put aside daydreams of where I
would be now if I were still working for that organization while in college. I
have had to give up a lot to be fully present in this season, but I believe I
will reap a holy harvest. I know that my sacrifices (even if overlooked at
times by my husband, or society, or my friends and family) are never overlooked
by the Lord.
I have a lot of gifts and talents that may seem
to have been better used outside the home, but for now, in the Lord's eyes,
those talents are being used exactly as He planned. God has called me to use
them in the home, and I am happy to do so.
Because He’s worthy.
So, be all in at whatever stage you're in. If he’s called you to be
a stay at home mom… be there. If he’s called you to homeschool… be there. Be
where He is. Be a missionary to your little disciples. You don’t
need an Instagram full of people hashtagging your preaching at conferences to
prove you’ve served God well--- an Instagram full of playgrounds and math books
will do… for now!
Show me your holy this week on IG #thisismyholy
