This year has been an interesting year for me in my thinking about 'missional motherhood'. There have been many exciting things that have happened as well as some heartbreaks - but most of these things I can't share in detail here! But what I can share is what I've been learning and being reminded of this year, and through the missional motherhood posts in November.* I'm continually being reminded that this is something that Dave and I are not naturally good at! For us, trying to get to know our friends and neighbours actually takes quite a lot of effort and can be quite exhausting. (If you're an extrovert that might be hard to understand, but it's true!). I've found that I've needed to think through what other areas of my life I can cut back on, so that I have the energy and time for it.
* Being a control freak, I find the unstructured and unknown aspects of being 'missional' hard to cope with at times. This year, I've had moments of great doubt and panic: "what if I put in all this work of teaching and discipling my kids and they don't keep loving Jesus?"; "what if I spend all this time with the other mums from school, and no one is ever saved?"; "what if I having nothing to show for my life?". I've been reminded that being a disciple of Jesus does not come with guaranteed 'results' - but I still need to obey him and share the good news.
* A related issue is that, like Jenny, I've found that the more I've become involved with the community around us the less I've been able to be involved in church. Now, we still are involved in our church, but it's taught me that it's important not to spend all our time doing "church events". I also think that having unstructured time during the weekends - so you can have a conversation with the neighbours over the front fence, or invited one of the other families home for a BBQ after Saturday sport - is crucial.
* Another thing I've noticed (which relates to the last point), is that being more missional means constantly fighting against the pull to do other things that would get me more glory - including more 'up front' ministry. I still am tempted to say 'yes' to things that are visible and get me praise from my fellow Christians, when having a few more cups of tea with friends and neighbours is more important.
* I still struggle with sending my kids out into the world as Jesus' disciples. This year I've been reminded again and again that having children who are open about the fact that they love Jesus (and want their friends to love him too) will probably mean that they won't always be the most popular kids at school or preschool. I've discovered, to my great shame, that while I pray for boldness myself, I still get anxious about my 7 year old's professions of faith in the classroom. I say that I want my kids to be disciples - so why do I constantly feel the pull to over-protect them?
* Following on from the above point, I've found that my kids and their concern for their unsaved friends can teach me a lot about the urgency of sharing Christ with my friends.
Thank you again to those who shared your stories over November - you greatly encouraged me. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year!
3 comments:
What an encouraging summary, Nicole :)
I'm intrigued by the line "the more I've become involved with the community around us the less I've been able to be involved in church".
One of the things we expect to find hard when we come back to Sydney is being on mission together as a church. (So, in the context you're describing, spending time with people in the community and other members of our church at the same time.) Geography is not our friend in many parts of Sydney :/
It's also a reminder of the importance of keeping scheduled church events pared back as much as possible, so that in the time people do have, they can be investing in relationships rather than maintaining programmes that have outlived their relational usefulness. Tough to do :/
I'm about to go way off topic but I jsut had to let you know about this show:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/tv--radio/capturing-100-years-of-local-history/2009/12/02/1259429396843.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
It sounds fantastic and I thought your family might enjoy it, especially after having done the My Place walking tour!
Enjoy!
Love Michelle
I really relate to some of your "lessons", especially the energy required for outreach and building relationships as an introvert. It is tiring. I have also struggled with the "efficiency" thing. I am not a big talker in a group and I can spend hours and hours with non-Christian friends and get no further than mentioning church or a church related activity (no gospel conversation, no-one becoming Christian). I tend to feel I could be doing more with those hours (Bible study, a "ministry" at church), but I need to be reminded that all the time spent with non-Christians, listening to the way they think and what is important to them is building relationships which may be eternally significant.
The best thing for me has been starting at a new church this year where I had no formal ministry involvement and felt no "expectations" of what I SHOULD be involved in. This has allowed me much more time to build those non-Christian relationships.
I've really enjoyed reading about missional motherhood!
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