Tag: missional motherhood

Missional Motherhood Study: Weeks 5 & 6

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Today was the last day of my moms group and I thought I would cover our discussion from weeks 5 and 6. Two weeks ago we mainly talked about the “thousands of little deaths to self” we do as moms everyday. This idea is drawn from 2 Corinthians 4:11:

“For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

We also discussed the idea that evangelism is a mom’s work, but the giving of faith is Gods. There is freedom in knowing that it isn’t all up to us to save our children. We do have a great influence on them, and God uses us in mighty ways in our children’s lives, but only God can make blind eyes see and awaken a sleeping heart.

In today’s group we talked a lot about homemaking and the difference between making our homes an idol and making them a place to display the gospel to others (in our family and outside our family). Gloria says, “Titus 2 is not about how Christian women need to be domestic goddesses; it’s about how Christian women point people to God.” We manage our homes, in our own unique ways, to love and serve and give freely to others. Gloria speaks to this as well, “Homemaking is a strategic everyday ministry designed by God to adorn his gospel in this age….We don’t manage our homes because our homes are our hope. We manage our homes because Christ is our hope.” 

We ended the discussion today with the assurance that God will fulfill his mission in the world and in his Church, because he tells us so in his Word, and has made it evident through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and by giving us the Holy Spirit. He designed us and equips us for missional motherhood to our own children and other disciples. It is his work.

 

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Missional Motherhood Study: Week 3

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I was recently traveling with my family, so my moms group met this past Wednesday instead of Monday. Only two ladies were present, but we spent a long time talking about Gloria’s take on seasonal obsessive disorder (which is not a real disorder) and comparing it to our lives. In Jesus’ day the Jews were ‘obsessing’ about their season of oppressive Roman rule and they expected the Messiah to deliver them. But while the Jews were looking for someone to deliver them from their temporary situation, they were overlooking their greater need for eternal deliverance. In much the same way, we as moms can obsess over the season of parenting we are in with our children and pine for a different season.

I know lately I’ve been pining for a season when my boys are more independent from me. I can day dream about having more freedom, especially with my two year old who clings to me day and night. And yet my eyes are set on the temporal circumstances of my life when they should ultimately be set on hope in Christ and his return. Gloria reminds us that we are all in the larger season of life, which is wrought with hardship. In every season we find ourselves in, and in all of this tumultuous life, Christ is the anchor for our souls. What a solid truth to hold fast to as a mom called to daily nurturing of little bodies and souls.

Missional Motherhood Study: Week 1

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I just finished the first video by Gloria Furman in her 6 week bible study series. It’s a sweetly short video, which you can find here. Yesterday I had a few local mom friends over (we each live within a few blocks from each other) and we went over the discussion questions from the workbook. We grasped onto Gloria’s statement about being more than “just a mom”. And we also talked about how the spiritual warfare of mothering can include believing that lie ourselves. We need to remind ourselves that what we do, no matter how small, has meaning and purpose. We are living with a mission to make disciples of Christ. This happens not just in the words we speak, and the kind of life we live, but in the way we care physically for our children and those in our churches and communities.

Takeaway points from our personal discussion included:

  • Valuing motherhood has more to do with the internal than the external. We can value motherhood and believe we are more than “just a mom” whether we stay home full time, work from home, or work outside of the home in any capacity.  
  • Satan seeks to destroy life in our homes, which can manifest itself in many ways, especially in telling us lies about our mothering. 
  • We all need rest and peace from mommy guilt. Whatever choices we’ve made for schooling, feeding, diapering, daily routine, and discipline should not feel like a burden of guilt and condemnation. Jesus has a better yoke for us, one in which we are humbly dependent on him for our lives and those of our children. This is how we find peace. 

Leave me a comment after you watch the video and let me know your thoughts.