Being a Mom in Ministry

Hello, friends!

Before we get to our special guest blogger, I wanted to make a note about the events of Charlottesville this past weekend.

White Supremacy, racism, and hate based on ethnicity suck. They suck hard. As a Christian, I cannot condemn the actions of those who were a part of the Unite the Right rally strongly enough. Their ideology is not of Jesus. It is of the devil and we as the Church need to make sure that we are actively fighting against these ideologies in our communities and even within our own walls. Through God's grace, I believe we can do it but it starts with a recognition that White Supremacy embeds itself in very subtle ways in society. We need to repent if we want to begin healing.

Now, on to the good stuff. My dear wife, Megan, asked if she could write a blog post about being a mom in ministry. Below are some of her thoughts. Enjoy!

Before I had Ezra, I never would have imagined that I would start working part-time. It was much to my surprise that after a few months back to work, I knew that I desired more time with Ezra. This was conflicting though because I love what I do for work! It was then that I began to think more about what it means to have a dual calling - to be a Mom and to be in ministry. Now after having my second child and coming off of maternity leave, I begin to ponder anew what this whole dual calling means.

I started thinking of this again as the end of my 12 week maternity leave drew near a little over two weeks ago.  I began to feel sad about going back to work and needed the Lord to speak to me. He said "It's ok to feel sad because I have called you to be a Mom. But, I have also called you to this ministry." In the past week and a half I have had to remind myself of this over and over again.

Here are some thoughts that have come to me as I begin to navigate again, being a Mom in ministry with two kids.

I have limits....
Who knew, right?!? There is just not enough of me to go around! Before kids I still had limits, but didn't acknowledge them or give space for them. I would put in 60 hours without blinking an eye. I now need to say no to things, not just for my own sanity, but for the wellbeing of my family. That is hard because ministry involves people. Saying no to people is hard and often misunderstood as not caring about them anymore.

I am not perfect....
As much as I want to be, I am not perfect. Often I feel like I am not giving enough to my kids, husband, students and staff. This is hard for me because I love serving God through ministering to staff and students and I love serving God through being with my family. I have made a lot of mistakes as I have navigated this season. As much as I can, I have tried to involve family in ministry. Students love it, and Ezra does too. But at the same time, it isn't always best for the conversation for me to be distracted by a very active toddler. Another area where I have failed a lot in the past two years is consistently connecting with Jesus. Early on with Ezra I knew things would have to change in my rhythm of connecting with the Lord. I used to spend an hour in the morning praying and reading scripture. That wasn't working with a baby so I had to learn how to connect with the Lord throughout the day when able. Some days I go the day without actively doing this. Other days I notice the Lord's presence in my interactions with the kids. These days especially with a toddler. He throws tantrums sometimes for not getting his way... how often do I do that with God? Those sorts of thing have helped me relate to God in a different way as a parent.

I need people....
I was on maternity leave with Ezra during the Fall which is our biggest season of outreach on campus. This was extremely difficult for me to trust God and others to grow the ministry on campus. It was a total faith builder for me to see that the Lord was at work in powerful ways WITHOUT me being present! That year we saw an increase of leadership in students.

In summary... God has no limits, He is perfect, He never fails. Being a Mom in ministry points me to my utter need and dependence upon God to move and draw both those that I serve as well as my family to himself.  I am grateful that I can include my kids in a lot of the ministry. They get to grow up with people from around the world and see us as we share God's love with others. What a gift!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam (and Megan)