Missional motherhood: Being on mission as a mom

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Whenever I attend a conference, I get a little queasy. Not because I’m anxious meeting new friends or because I’m out of my comfort zone, but because I know the guilt is coming.

Whether it’s the heart-felt messages from inspiring speakers on social justice or the endless line of booths on clean water and poverty-fighting non-profits, it’s typically at conferences that the call to be ‘radical’ in our faith is sounded the loudest.  So, after being presented with opportunity after opportunity “to do” something radical for the King’s kingdom, this momma gets a wee bit weary.

As a homeschooling, work-at-home mother of twins, motherhood often feels the absolute farthest thing from being radical. Instead of jetting off to Uganda, I’m printing out copywork. Instead of buying beaded bracelets that fund education for girls, my budget is allocated for pull-ups and bananas.

I’ll be the first to confess, that my feelings for being un-radical are rooted solely in my own sinful pride.  But all the same, the idea of “being radical” can make the more mundane activities of motherhood somewhat lackluster. 

Missional Women Conference

This past weekend, I attended the Missional Women conference, and while I was excited to soak up some truth from new friends and discover some amazing ministries, I also braced myself for the impending wall of guilt.

But guess what? It never came!

Instead, this is what I found. Being on mission occurs within the “existing reality” that God has appointed for me.

My current reality is I’m the mother of two very unique boys. The ministry of the Great Commission – from which all radical faith springs – is to make disciples of my children first and foremost.  So, right now, for me, radical faith  doesn’t involve third-world countries or soup kitchens; it involves my home.

To that end, I found some great ways at the Missional Conference to be on mission as a mom. 

Kids on Mission

It’s radical to teach your child about the gospel. 

Kids on Mission is a non-profit that helps you lead your children to learn, pray, and serve God’s world. Their website is chock full of free printables on world cultures and countries – all designed to give your child a heart for the nations.

At their booth, I picked up these Cross Gospel Tracts for Kids. This tool is so cool. My boys loved opening the different flaps and talking about what they mean. This tool could be used by an adult who is sharing the gospel with a child and even older children could be trained to use them as they learn to share their own faith.

Compassion International

It’s radical to teach your child to love the world.

 

At the conference, we heard musician Shaun Groves share his heart for poverty-fighting group Compassion International.  I love this group because they are Christ-focused and local church-based, meaning sponsored children receive their aid through a local church. But I also love this group because sponsorships that alleviate poverty, hunger, and sickness help keep families together who would otherwise be faced with unthinkable choices.

At the conference, my family signed up to sponsor a child from Ecuador about our boys’ age. We hope it becomes an opportunity for us to teach our children about generosity and compassion for the world’s poor.

But listen to how big our God is. Later, as my husband researched the area in which our sponsored child lives, we discovered her village was located at the base of a mountain my husband climbed some years ago – Mount Cotapaxi.

God was so good to make that connection for us, because we already have material on this area – photos, postcards, and stories from his trip that we can share with the boys to help them understand where and who is receiving their gifts and notes of love.

We’re praying this ministry becomes a way for us to be radical in living out the Great Commission as we teach our kids to pray for our sponsored child and her family.

In the next few years, God might change my current reality, making the way I live out radical faith look completely different from the way he has designed it today. But for right now, I’m content to live ‘on mission’ right where he’s put me. Motherhood, in and of itself, is radical – something I’m learning each and every day.

I hope you’ll join me for this new mini-series on Missional Motherhood! For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some ideas and resources for living out a radical faith at home.

Are you looking for ways to be missional right where you are? Check out Laura Krokos discipleship video explaining this principle!