Last month, while shopping, I saw a shirt I just had to have. It read, "Motherhood is my ministry." So often, as mothers, we can feel overlooked and unimportant in the church because we are not always able to help in visible ways. But when we begin to view motherhood as our ministry, we realize we are preparing our children for the great things God will do in their lives. Eleven years ago, I became the mother of twin girls. Before they were born, I was very active in various church ministries. I had the freedom to serve because I did not yet have little ones depending on me. When I became a mother and chose to be a stay-at-home mom, everything changed. I watched many women in my church serve faithfully, and I often felt I should be doing more. I wanted to help and be a blessing, yet I felt motherhood was preventing me from serving God's kingdom. I looked at my sisters in the Lord who were able to participate in church activities and felt useless. I prayed, "God, what can I possibly do for You? What can I do for Your kingdom when I am so busy raising my babies?" I thought there was no ministry in changing diapers, making bottles, and caring for little ones — but I was wrong. I slowly realized that my ministry was already in my home. I was ministering to my children, teaching them about God and His truth. Being a mother was not keeping me from ministry — it was my ministry. In fact, it was the greatest ministry I would ever have outside the walls of the church. Proverbs 1:8— "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." I began to understand how important my role as a mother truly was. My children were looking to my husband and me to show them the way of the Lord. The ministries I admired at church were valuable, but teaching my children about the God we serve was even more important. Psalm 139:13–14— "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." In the kingdom of God, mothers are essential. We nurture, comfort, teach, guide, and, especially in the teenage years, become counselors and shoulders to cry on. If you are a mother with small children and feel you cannot do much at church because you are caring for your precious babies, think again. You have a ministry — perhaps the most important one you will ever have. When you change a diaper, make a bottle, or cuddle your child, you are showing a powerful witness of God's grace, love, and mercy. Through your daily life, you teach your children the way to God. Your prayers, reading Scripture together, and worship in your home show them that faith is not just something practiced at church but lived every day. I do not have to be visibly active in church to be important. I am important to God, to my husband, and to my children. They see me live out my faith, and for that reason, my children are my ministry — and I will never be ashamed of it. I serve them daily and encourage them to love, pray, forgive, and pursue God. I remind them there is Someone they can run to besides their parents — and His name is Jesus. Proverbs 31:25–28— "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue… Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." If you are a mother feeling isolated because you cannot serve at church in the ways you once did, remember this: every day you are raising your children to know Jesus, you are serving God. Your children — young or grown — are watching. They hear your prayers, see your faith, and learn from your example. They see more than we realize. We are the witnesses our children need. So remember: motherhood is your ministry, and what a beautiful ministry it is. I may never sing at a large conference or preach at a women's gathering, but the most important calling I have is to lead my children to Jesus. today's devot...
