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Motherhood is a Ministry
Recently, while visiting with a college student, listening to her explore her thoughts, hopes, and questions regarding career, ministry, and motherhood; I could tell that her aim was to get it right. When I pitched the idea that motherhood is a ministry she responded by saying that she had never thought of it that way. So here we are. Perhaps you too can be encouraged to know motherhood is in fact, a ministry. You can call it a job if you’d like, it certainly isn’t an idle pastime. In my own journey as Mom, I have organized my time in various ways. I have homeschooled, never left the house, worked…
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Releasing “Mom Guilt”
Once upon a time I served as an educator. While serving a special needs family, the mom revealed to me that she felt like her daughter’s disability was a punishment for her own sins. This mom was steeped in deep grief, somehow allowing herself to believe that she was personally responsible for her child’s cognitive disability. I knew her to be a healthy mom in a healthy home environment. She was actually a wealthy mom with all the comforts this modern world offers. Despite having the American dream, she was unable to enjoy the rich blessings of her life due to this story of guilt she had written for self. …
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Jesus Understands Moms
My journey into motherhood began when my first child was born. Before then, I was a mom-to-be who read all the books available and thought she was prepared with the techniques of mothering. Oh, how naïve I was! I had made straight A’s in school for years, got lots of awards for achievement, but mothering this baby girl who was so unpredictable was the hardest challenge of my life. When I complained to the pediatrician at the first postnatal visit that my baby girl did not do anything the books said she should do (such as sleep 20 hours a day, be comforted when I rocked or nursed her), he…
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What can I give the Lord when I have nothing left?
I grew up in a tradition that observed the season of Lent. Every year as a young person we were encouraged to sacrifice something in order to honor the sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the cross and to help us as believers to focus on the Lord as we prepared for Easter. I believe there are a vast number of ways that Lent is used and observed, but as a young person this is what I understood it to be. My most memorable “sacrifice” was soda. I remember because I was in the sixth grade and after my 40 days of soda sobriety, I can honestly say I have never…
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Abortion. A response to Culture; combatting fear with community
Recently on social media, I have observed a variety of statements, carefully and well meaningfully crafted, to support the concept of abortion. In particular, former supreme court Justice, and women’s rights champion, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quote, stood out to me. Interestingly, I agree with her sentiment, just for different reasons. “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When government controls that decision for her, she is being treated less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” “The decision whether or not to bear a child…
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Mother’s Day: A Day to Honor Non-Traditional Mothers, Too
There’s more than one way to become a mother, but often that fact is neither touted nor commemorated, and that leaves many women feeling rather uncomfortable—and forgotten—on Mother’s Day. (Para español, lea abajo.)
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Sacraments and Spit-Up
It was a no good, rotten Sunday. My husband and I both overslept, resulting in a thrown-together breakfast. My daughter refused to nurse. My son instantaneously despised his church shoes. No one got coffee. The car ride to church resembled a chaotic symphony of yawns, bickering and tears. We arrived at church with forced smiles. As we grabbed seats in the last row, I glanced to the front of the sanctuary, and my stomach dropped. There it stood–a pristine table of bread and juice. I sighed, attempting to curb my rotten attitude, while inwardly thinking, “Of course, communion would be today.” I used to love communion Sundays–a day in which…
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You Were Meant for Today
You were Meant for Today! It was quite a shock when I found out I was pregnant, for the third time, nearly 5 years after having given birth to my last little bundle of joy. To complicate matters, we received the news just weeks after we announced that we would be moving from our beloved community, leaving behind a life of ministry and part-time jobs that I loved. Suddenly, I had to come to grips with the idea that I would now be going backward. Or, at least that is how I interpreted the situation. Of course, I have pursued motherhood out of a calling and it has been one…
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Accept the Pastoral Position God Has for You
The past few weeks have brought much discussion about the role of women in the church, seminaries, in ministry. To be honest, I found myself several times yelling at my computer screen for reasons I can only describe as temporary insanity. I huffed, not because of the discussions, but because of how nasty the people of God behaved. A bit ironic, isn’t it? Mostly I found it disheartening to read the attacks on those who shared their beliefs. If I could, I’d sit and have coffee (or tea) with all of them. I would pray with them and give thanks to God for the gift we have in thinking beyond…
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A Mother’s Greatest Calling
Today I'm happy to welcome guest blogger, Seana Scott. She's a seminary student, a mom of three, wife to Jason, and blogger at seanascott.org. I sat on the edge of my bed and wept. My first-born son, now two months old, lay in the other room sleeping. “God, I’m tired of feeling so sad.” “To obey is better than sacrifice” popped into my mind. I Googled the passage on my smartphone, grabbed the leather-bound Bible off the nightstand and read 1 Samuel 15:22–23. It said, “…To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and…
