Since I was gifted someone else's ticket for The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference I also had the privilege of going to the workshops that this guest had pre-chosen. The only exception was the 2nd workshop because the one that was pre-chosen was over booked. (And I herald this as a total God-thing because God knew the desires of my heart. He knew that I wanted to hear from Blair Linne's ministry, and of course, as God would have it. I was able to attend that workshop because the 2nd pre-chosen workshop was full. It's incredible. I know. If I hadn't lived it, I would probably be doubting the validity of those statements, but it's true. I promise. You'll have to trust me on this one.)
But I digress.
There was a workshop for Missional Moms, and you would think, that God in all of His all-knowing-ness would have it so that I would wind up in that workshop, right? Or maybe the workshop about teaching my children about Jesus. Either of these would have "made sense" for sure, but instead God would have it so that the first workshop chosen for me would be "Faith & Work: Living a Whole Life in Christ".
Funny, right? I thought so, but I was so excited and so incredibly sure that I was there because that's where God put me. God opened my heart to what was being said, and allowed me to hear something that I want to share with you.
I was going to share notes, but I really feel like what connects us is the real life aspect of our stories. So, here's my main story about the talk that pretty much changed how I view life and my work as a stay at home mom.
I was sitting there excitedly (pretty much jumping out of my seat due to the diet coke that I had for lunch and of course the sheer excitement and shock that I was at the conference lol!) when a woman named Donna sat next to me and so kindly introduced herself. I was so thankful for Donna. She came across as everything that I wasn't: extroverted, confident, and friendly with ease. As somewhat of an introvert it's so hard for me to meet new people and even to know how to approach them, so this was such a breath of fresh air. I didn't have to stumble along because she was friendly when I didn't know how to be, so all I had to do was respond. She asked me what I did for a living. I told her I was a stay at home mom. The conversation fizzled a bit. It seemed to me like she didn't quite know what to say because my line of work was so different, so distant from the every day life of corporate work. She wasn't rude at all. Don't get me wrong. She was quite the opposite as I said before. Then she uttered the default words of most that truthfully make me cringe a little, "That's the hardest job!", she said in awe. I responded to her with a smile, knowing that she was paying me a compliment, but then I put my big girl pants on and shifted the conversation to her work, which was quite intriguing.
One of the main themes in Katherine Leary Alsdorf's talk was that we see examples of the Gospel, real life parables if you will, in our every day work lives. God sets a purpose for us, our brokenness gets in the way, and then redemption takes place. It's the same picture of the creation of mankind and the world, the fall in the garden, and the redemption that we can experience through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She spoke about how sometimes God uses our work to show us our brokenness. He uses it to show us how we miss the mark. He shows us deep rooted sins in our hearts that He wants to work out of us.
It's no different than motherhood ya'll. I tell my husband this all the time. I tell him that I feel like God uses motherhood to show me what's wrong with me. He uses it to show me how selfish I am and what idols I have set up in my heart that I didn't even know were there. I want to use my time for me. That's my nature. That's our nature, but motherhood isn't a 9-5, If you are a working mother you know that a 9-5 doesn't shelter you from the work of motherhood either. Colds and teething happen whether or not you are on the clock, and whether or not you are checked in or out of your family's needs at that moment. Motherhood doesn't mature us. Motherhood shows us what's wrong with us. There's more to the story of course. God shows us glimpses of redemption by working in our hearts, changing us, maturing us for His glory. It's a work that goes so much deeper than any tip that any mommy blogger can give you.
I want to encourage you to hug the cactus again. Hug it. It hurts. Our brokenness hurts. The fact that apart from God we can do nothing hurts. It doesn't just hurt. It gives us what we need to crucify our flesh and cling to the hope of grace that only Christ can bring.
The world tells us that we have it going on. It tells us that we do the most significant work, the hardest work. It tells us that the Good News is us. The Good News is motherhood. And oh there are so many joys in motherhood, but if it ends there we find ourselves without need of a Savior. And we already know that just isn't true.
The challenge for us is hard ya'll because the work IS hard. We do vital work in our families and homes. We do, but it doesn't change the fact that we are broken. We contend with our sinful nature, and what we want to do we don't do and we do the things that we don't want to do. We grow, but we fall. It's a constant battle, right? It is. I know it is.
So the next time you are praised as a mom, smile, say thanks, and be gracious. But when you come before The Lord acknowledge your sin, acknowledge your brokenness.
We can't get to redemption if we first don't acknowledge our brokenness. And when we acknowledge it we begin to see, that we aren't so different after all. We are all broken and in need of a Savior from SAHM to FLOTUS.
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
― Abraham Kuyper
― Abraham Kuyper
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