Stay At Home Mom - it's a Mission Field!

It's time for another blog series with my friends at Praying Pelican Missions! 

"We, who have accepted Jesus as Lord, are all missionaries! Each of us may not be living abroad or leading mission trips as a career, but the truth is, everyone can be a missionary.  This blog series will span across multiple blogs from our PPM Mission Coordinators and Advocates and will serve to showcase people who are living daily with a missional mindset. We will be giving a voice to a barista, who shares the love of Christ through espresso shots each morning. We will be the platform for a tired mom next door to share how she impacts her child's friends when they come over for a sleepover. We will be the helping hand to a Pastor who wants to encourage his congregation to get involved. The school teacher who invests in his students and wants to see them succeed and know Christ. The janitor who humbly and lovingly listens to his co-workers as they vent and confess their sins to him. We pray these stories will encourage and challenge us all to live our lives as missionaries everyday, in our own unique mission fields!"

First up, I'm featuring one of my besties, Lindsey Jo! Here's her story: 

I’m Lindsey Jo. I’ll be married to my high school sweet heart 6 years this month. He’s a real hottie and makes me laugh all day long. I’m a momma to the two most handsome little boys, Isaac Henry and Grant. And I want to have a whole bunch more. I like watching TV, eating ice cream, making things, telling jokes, and drinking coffee. And I love Jesus.  

My “job” is to take care of those two handsome boys and “make a home” and that’s all.  It’s not always glamorous. Actually, it’s very rarely glamorous. Unless your idea of glamor is wiping butts and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But it’s my greatest joy to be a stay at home momma. And it’s a mission field.

First of all, I come in contact with other mommas every week, whether it’s at the library during story time or just at Kroger on Monday morning. We obviously share something in common, so that opens a door to share the gospel and minister to those mommas. Even being able to encourage and minister to other mommas that are our fellow believers is a huge mission field! I’m encouraged all the time by other mommas who are either in the trenches with me or have been in the trenches before. What a crazy, impossible task God has entrusted us with in the raising of our kids! We need each other! For encouragement and wisdom and tangible help. One of the biggest blessings I have received lately is dinners brought to me by my church family after I had Grant. It’s being a SAHM that gives me the time to do those kinds of things, to serve others.     

And then there’s reality. The reality that sometimes, a lot of times, I don’t share the gospel with the mommas at the library because it’s just too awkward. And I can barely get dinner on the table for my family, much less someone else’s. And am I even discipling anyone?! Have I shared the gospel in the last 6 months?!

The answer is a resounding “Yes.”

I think sometimes we’re prone to forget that our babies aren’t born Christians. They’re born sinners. Cute sinners, but sinners nonetheless. They need Jesus. They need the gospel. Isaac Henry and Grant are my mission field. I am praying daily for their salvation. I’m actively teaching them about Jesus and prayer and the gospel. I want them to know that as awesome as they are, they’re nothing without Jesus. And God has entrusted me to teach these boys about him. He has gifted me these two little people that kinda have to listen to me. They can’t leave. They need me. So I’ll meet their needs. I’ll nurse Grant and I’ll pour Isaac Henry’s Cheez-its and I’ll change their diapers and teach them their ABCs. And in the midst of me meeting their needs, I get to tell them about a man who loves them even more than I do. That’s really cool.

So thank for Lindsey Jo and her passion for her kiddos, her hubby, and the people around her!! She is my role model - for cooking, for loving, and for being an AWESOME mom!!