Sometimes I wonder if they see me as more than just the lady who gives them food, opens their juice pouches and puts band-aids on their scrapes.
Sometimes I wish they knew how exhausting it can be to meet the needs of four little people all day while putting my own needs on hold.
Sometimes, if I’m honest, motherhood feels more like a burden than a blessing. There… I said it. It’s not always easy breezy, cookie baking, Facebook post moments. Sometimes… it’s hard.
And you know what?
That’s okay.
Even the most difficult days—the ones I’m not proud about, the ones you’d never see on my Instagram account—are reminders of God’s love for me.
See, as a daughter of the King, I’m able to lean on Him through every season. And He never turns me away. I imagine if God was anything like me, He’d think of me the way I sometimes think of my own children.
He could think, “Sometimes I wonder if she sees me as more than just the one who provides for her needs and blesses her family.”
I’m so glad He’s not like me. He doesn’t look at me with a worldly perspective. He sees me, flaws and all, and still wants me. He sees every mistake and still wants to spend eternity with me.
That's amazing, and when we give our lives to Him, He gives us the assignment of seeing others in this same way. 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective…”
This includes our children! Yes, it can be so tiring trying to be the best mom I can be, but God can reach my children through me if I’m obedient to Him. That’s a sacrifice worth making.
When I see my task as a spiritual one that goes beyond serving lunch and gushing over each scribbly drawing, I remember that God, even more so, has guided me through the baby days of my faith. He was and still is patient with me as I stumble, fail and forget to express gratitude.
Despite all of my mess, 2 Corinthians 5:18 tells me, “Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
So, He not only brought me back to Himself, but He now wants me to tell others they can be with Him too?!
Verse 20 says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us…”
When I first embraced this assignment years ago, I thought it was about serving in a local church or going to the nations and preaching Jesus. While it can be all of those things, it has to start at home.
If we are ambassadors of Christ everywhere but our own houses, we are missing the mark. For someone like me, excited to travel, speak, win souls and shout about Jesus from the rooftops, that can be a hard pill to swallow.
The truth is, though, my ministry is only as strong as my family is. Living out the ministry of reconciliation, letting God make His appeal through us, is such an enormous role. In fact, it’s so enormous that parents can forget it may start with potty-training and cleaning muddy little faces.
We can’t win the world but lose our children.
Honestly, I get more fulfillment in ministry when I’m speaking to a crowd than when I’m singing ABC’s, but lately I’m understanding that it’s not about me or my vision of what ministry looks like.
Sure, God has great plans for me and for you, but He made us stewards of our families first. We can’t win the world but lose our children.
Think about God when He created the world. In a display of His majesty He spoke everything into existence, from the tallest mountains to the most astonishing sea creatures. He created humans in His image, and when they allowed sin to enter their lives, He immediately began the reconciliation journey.
He could’ve been annoyed with their disobedience. Perhaps, He was. But that didn’t change His role as Maker and Father. He fought for us and crafted the most divine and loving plan to give Himself for us.
Wow.
That’s what He wants the world to know—that He’s a God who fights for His people. He came to our level and laid down His life for us.
That sounds a lot like parenting to me. Raising my children should feel like laying down my life. It should feel like going down to the level of my children and walking alongside them as they grow.
When this starts to feel like a burden more than a blessing, we have to look at God. Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While our kids have yet to learn the basics like bathing themselves and expressing genuine appreciation, we sacrifice our lives for them. When we lean on God to do so with grace and love, they get to see Him through us.
God gets to make His appeal to our children through us!
If it takes years of praying through the rough days and skipping out on me-time here and there to be a vessel for my kids to know Christ, I believe that’s a small price to pay.
Psalm 127:4 says children are “like arrows in the hand of a warrior.” They will go forth and do mighty things if we do what it takes to point them to Christ now.
Jesus, help me to lay down my life for reconciliation like You did. Show me the bigger picture, that I’m raising children who will one stand alongside me to share Your love with the world. Help me navigate parenthood with grace so they can see You in me. In Your name, Amen.