That's Quite the Ministry You Have

I've been wanting to write this post since last week, but have just been too busy "doing ministry" to get to it.

It's finally nap time, so I am going to take a few minutes to sit down and write what God laid on my heart.  He used my friend Paula to speak to me.  She didn't mean to challenge me.  She didn't know her words would have such an impact.  She just said them.  Well, really she typed them.  Probably with her thumb, if she types messages on her smart phone like I do.

We were messaging back and forth about her book and she offered to give me one.  And then she was super nice and offered to give me one to give away.  Seeing as how I like to blog and we have middle schoolers over to our house every week, I am sure I know someone who would enjoy reading her book and benefit greatly from it too!

Anyway, she asked if I still blog.  I assured her I do, "when my 3 children let me."  I went on to share that I had actually just posted a new blog earlier that day.  I told her I wasn't sure how it happened since I had 2 daycare kiddos in addition to my 3 girls, but I guess God knew I needed to get out what He had spoken to me and gave me a few minutes.

After my comment about so many kids in the house, Paula wrote, "Wow, that's quite the ministry you have."

Her words stopped me in my tracks.  She didn't say anything profound.

Just, "Wow, that's quite the ministry you have."

Here I am thinking Paula has quite the ministry.  She wrote a book that thousands of people will read.  Because of her thousands of lives will be changed.  Young girls and women alike will be challenged and encouraged.  Moms and daughters can grow together.  And not just here in the United States, as I believe her book is being translated into other languages!  How cool is that?!

I've always wanted to be a published author. I dream of seeing a book I wrote on the shelves at Barnes and Noble or on-line at Amazon.  I, too, want to impact lives and make a difference.  And so, honestly, I find it easy to be just a little jealous of Paula.

Why does she get to work with Nancy Leigh DeMoss?  How is she so lucky to get a platform like that?  Why does she get to travel and talk about her book on the radio and in other neat places?  Why do people follow her blog and not mine? :)  What makes her so special?

That's just what Satan wants me to do though.  That's exactly how he wants me to think.  He likes to see that bitterness and jealous creep into my heart.  He tries to keep me from noticing it, that way it grows and grows until eventually my heart is hardened and I am ineffective for God's kingdom.

So Paula's words not only stopped me from getting bitter and jealous, but also from believing Satan's lies that I'm not making a difference, that I'm not having an impact on people's lives, that I don't have a ministry.

Remember what Paula said?  Paula, the one with the huge ministry that is changing lives and making a difference all around the world?

"Wow.  That's quite the ministry you have."

And she was talking to ME!!!

Granted, my ministry looks WAY different than hers!  I am home changing diapers, wiping snotty noses, cleaning toilets, washing clothes, fixing suppers, reading books, making playdough creations, coloring pictures, bandaging and kissing boo-boos, and picking up toys (the same ones at least 15 times a day).  My life isn't glamorous.  Very rarely do I fix my hair in anything but a pony tail.  My idea of dressing up is to change out of yoga pants and a t-shirt to put on jeans and a different t-shirt so I can go to the grocery store without spit up stains on my clothes.  The only reason I even bother wearing mascara is so that the daycare parents don't think I'm a walking zombie when they drop their precious kiddos off at my house in the morning.  I doubt the 6 kids under 4 really care if I have long, luxurious lashes.

After being a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom for the past 4 years, I begin to question if I am making a difference, if I am having an impact and helping change lives.  I begin to believe Satan's lie that I don't have a ministry.

I'm not writing books or posting blogs with thousands of followers. I'm not speaking in front of large crowds of people.  I'm not digging wells in Africa or saving lives in any third-world country for that matter.  I'm "just" a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom.

And yet, Paula tells me, "Wow.  That's quite the ministry you have."

Like I said, God used her words to help me see the truth, to remember it really.  Her simple statement rocked my world, and changed the way I look at feeding the daycare baby her bottle or stacking blocks with my toddler or playing dress up with my 4-year-old little girl who loves anything and everything princess.  So, as I gone about my day today -- doing laundry, making lunch, breaking up fights about a silly toy, wiping off counters, and helping make blanket forts -- I keep telling myself, "THIS is my ministry.  THIS is making a difference.  THIS is changing lives, the most important lives I know, the lives of MY CHILDREN."

Maybe you're a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom too.  Maybe you work outside of the home. Maybe you're not even a mom.  Whatever the case may be, remember that God has you right where He wants you and He IS using you there to make a difference, to change lives, to bring Him glory.

As you pick up those "lost cheerios that got away" remember what Paula told me and what I'm not telling you today, "Wow. That's quite a ministry you have."