Are You a Mom? Are you a Missionary?

I'm piggy-backing yesterday's post.  Yep, I'm on a roll.  Or maybe a soap box.  Either way, I promise to let this topic rest after today.

So, Emily Anderson, a blogger that I read faithfully, wrote this post where she pretended she was having coffee with her blog readers.  Only she offered us water in a fancy cup.  Hmmmm.  I told her in my comment that I would bring my own coffee.  Anywho...  She shared some of the things that she might tell us if we were having coffee, I mean water, and one of them was that she feels like she has lost her identity after having kids.  It might help to remind you that she has SIX.  In my comment, I said I too felt like I lost my identity when I had kiddos.  And I only have two.

She then wrote another post a few days later saying that she had a lot of readers comment that they could relate to her "loosing my identity" statement.  Yep, I was one of those.  Then she went on to share something a friend had told her.  And now I'm gonna share it with you.  Fourth-hand info now; hope it doesn't lose its meaning in the translation...  Actually, I'm just gonna copy and paste, hang on...  Ok, here it is:

"I was reminded recently by someone much wiser than me that although my vocation has changed, my calling remains the same. And that is to love Jesus and serve others. Married or single, babies or no babies, career or homemaker...our calling never changes. Remembering that helps me hold fast to the truth that Jesus is my identity."

Love it!  Isn't that what I just talked about yesterday?  Remember my life goal?  Know and love God ("...love Jesus..."); live a life that reflects Him to others ("...and serve others'").

That whole "missions doesn't look like the picture I painted in my head" thing suddenly diminishes as I embrace the idea that missions is serving Jesus, wherever I am, whatever I am doing, no matter how different it looks from the romantic visions I once held onto so tightly.

My identity:  ambassador for Christ.
My mission:  to represent my King in a way that draws people to Him
My mission field:  planet earth, ANYWHERE on planet earth

So....

Missionary in the African bush = missionary
Baptist Children's Minister = missionary
Staying home with two small children = missionary

I'm mothering.  And, by golly, I'm a missionary!

(For anyone who may not be down with the church lingo, missionaries are usually thought of as people who travel abroad to take the good news of Jesus to people who haven't heard of Him. But I believe Scriptures say we who choose Christ as Savior are missionaries--people who have chosen to love Jesus and tell others about Him.)

My home is my primary mission field right now.  What is your mission field?  What is your mission?

Teaching music = missionary
Cashier = missionary
Daycare worker = missionary
Cook = missionary
Farmer = missionary
Home-bound prayer warrior = missionary

I could go on and on but I think we all get the point.  Plug in your current occupation into the equation:

x = missionary

Anything and everything can equal a missionary!  If your goal is to live a life that is reflecting God to others, then you are on a mission.  And you, my friend, are a missionary!

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."
                                                                                                     --Acts 20:24