The Ministry of Motherhood

Has God placed a calling on your life?  Do you feel like your time here is of any value?  If you happen to spend your days doing laundry, washing dishes, making shopping lists, running errands, changing diapers and driving the carpool, then you have been called to one of the holiest of vocations – motherhood. 

I didn’t see my responsibilities as wife and mother as a “ministry” until about four years ago.  How could anyone see the mundane tasks that a woman performs on a daily basis as “holy”?  We can’t see it unless we look through the eyes of God.  We read in Proverbs 31, “An excellent wife, who can find?   . . . She works with her hands in delight. . . She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household . . . She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness”. (Proverbs 31:10-27)

Our culture today has dismissed the importance that God places on the role of wife and mother.  However, God says in His word that our worth is "far more than rubies".  Taking care of our husbands, teaching our children and nurturing their spiritual growth, and running an efficient household are all actions that please our Father.  If we accept this “calling” and serve Him with all our hearts, we can only expect to be greatly blessed.  He promises that “her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her”.  (Proverbs 31:28) 

I began to understand how motherhood can be a ministry around the same time I began a Bible Study by Beth Moore.  At the beginning of the study, she wrote a fictional story from Mary’s point of view, telling about the birth of her son, Jesus.  It was so detailed, you almost felt as if you were there in Jerusalem, waiting for the Savior to arrive.  It brought tears to my eyes.  As the study progressed, we talked about how Mary must have felt being entrusted with such an incredible mission.  How did she discipline Jesus?  How did she teach him responsibility?  Respect?  Obedience?  The Bible doesn’t really answer these questions, but it got me to thinking.

None of us are raising Jesus, that’s for sure.  (I often wonder what it would be like to have a perfect child.)  However, aren’t our children a gift from God?  Don’t we believe that He loves them more than we do and we are only their caregivers until He takes them home again?  Do we handle them with love and gentleness?  Are we training them in the ways of God?  

I’ve always loved and cared for my children.  However, before I considered it my “ministry”, the daily routine would sometimes really frustrate me.   I was constantly asking God to show me where it was He wanted me to serve Him.  I over-extended myself volunteering at church, school and various other organizations, leaving my husband to tend to the children and our home because of the “important work” I was doing for God.   I’m so thankful that He’s shown me that the work I have at home is far more important than anything outside.

I challenge you today, to see God’s plan for you in the dirty dishes, the piles of laundry, and the crying children He has placed in your hands.  Take care of them as if you were taking care of Him and just see what joy and peace He pours over you.  

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please share it with others!  Also, leave me a comment - I would love to hear from you!