To Seek And To Save The Lost

Mommy-hood. Daily life. Change Samantha's diaper. Help Jennifer with the potty. Make sure Elizabeth goes potty. Carry Samantha and basket of dirty laundry down the stairs while Jennifer and Elizabeth slowly walk down crying the whole way for me to carry them. Get plates out of the cabinet. Open a package of poptarts. Break Jennifer's poptart into 4 pieces. Break Elizabeth's poptart into 2 pieces. Make a bottle for Samantha. Pour oats and yogurt into a bowl and mix. Get reminded 40 million times that Elizabeth and Jennifer need a drink. Finally pour 2 sippy cups of milk. Feed oatmeal/yogurt to Samantha stopping every couple of bites for her to drink more of her bottle and me to sneak in a few bites of my own poptart. Clean up breakfast. Send the girls to play in the living room. Unload the dishwasher. Re-load the dishwasher. Get clothes out of the dryer. Switch clothes from the washer to the dryer. Start another load in the washer. Carry the clean clothes to the couch and fold. Send the older two girls upstairs. Straighten up the toys in the living room. Carry Samantha and the laundry basket of clean, folded laundry upstairs. Take the basket of laundry to my room and Samantha to the girls' room. Set up the baby gate at the top of the stairs so Samantha "doesn't fall down and die". Put my contacts in and brush my teeth. Straighten my bathroom. Make my bed and straighten my room. Put away clean laundry. Break up fights between the girls. Kiss boo-boos. Dress baby dolls. Eat a pretend breakfast 15 times. Straighten girls' rooms as much as possible with them playing in them. Make their beds. Welcome Chase home. Make his sandwiches. Pour him a glass of tea. Make PB&J for all 3 girls. Pour 2 sippy cups of milk and make a bottle. Get clean clothes out of dryer and carry to the living room. Switch clothes from the washer to the dryer. Clean up Chase's dishes. Clean up girls' lunch. Send them to the living room to play. Make my lunch. Eat and fold clothes while trying to keep noise level down so Chase can get a few minutes of sleep before going back to work. Chase goes back to work while we stand on the sidewalk and wave until he can't see us anymore. Corral all three girls back in the house. Carry Samantha up to her bed for a nap while the older two trail behind crying "I'm not tired!" Get all three girls in their own beds. Samantha falls asleep on her own. Hold Jennifer's hand until she falls asleep. Lay down next to Elizabeth until she falls asleep. Shower and get myself cleaned up. Lay down for about an hour until the girls wake up. Snack time for the girls. Convince them that animal crackers are just as good as vanilla wafers while trying to stop the tears of disappointment over a snack they "don't like"! Pour 2 sippy cups of milk and make a bottle. Convince Samantha that half a bag of marshmallows is definitely considered more than a snack and try to stop her tears of disappointment that snack time is over. Fold the clothes in the dryer while girls play downstairs. Put away laundry and straighten up toys upstairs. Make dinner while Samantha crawls around under my feet and the other two climb on the table and chairs (and counters if they could reach them) trying to help make dinner. Welcome Chase home from work. Set the table. Deal with crying, hungry kids. Feed everyone dinner. Put girls in the bathtub. Bathe, rinse, dry, dress girls. Clean up the table from dinner. Send girls out of the kitchen so they don't get messy again. Clean up the stove. Send girls out of the kitchen again. Clean up the counters. Send the girls out. Rinse all the dishes. Load and start the dishwasher. Start a load of laundry. Sink onto the couch in exhaustion only to realize that it's time for another bottle for Samantha. 9:00 all 3 girls are in bed. Stop Jennifer from playing in the potty about 3 times. Put Jennifer back in bed about 15 trillion times with a spanking each time. Calm Elizabeth down after she wakes up with bad dreams. They're finally all asleep. Somewhere in all of that I changed more diapers. Cleaned up more potty training accidents. Kissed more boo-boos. Ate more pretend meals. Answered "why" and "why not" about a dozen more times. Broke up more fights. Checked the mail. Carried the trash to the dumpster. Checked the email. Swept the floor. Answered the phone. Read the same book 30 times. Read a second book 5 times. Read a third book 80 times. Read a fourth book . . . you get the picture.

Every day is the same. It's mommy-hood. It feels never ending. It doesn't really feel important, that's for sure. It's daily life. Then, one day, something is said that changes everything. One day, something happens that makes all the difference. For me, that was today.

We are in town visiting family for the holidays. Today we went to our old church. We did the typical morning routine of getting everybody ready and out the door. We took the girls to the nursery and dealt with the typical tears as we left them. We went across the building for Chase's morning coffee and to say hi to faces we know we won't see again for many months. We went to the service. After a night full of crying children and mostly void of sleep, I struggled to stay awake through the service. However, God talked to me and I heard it, even through my sleep deprived state. The sermon was over Zacchaeus and Jesus' mission - To Seek And To Save The Lost. I was told that His mission is my Commission. I was told that there are lost people all around me and I have been given the task of seeking them out and leading them to God. We prayed. The pastor asked God to show us one person to actively seek to lead to Him. He asked God to lay one person on our heart.

I don't know about you, but my day is pretty jam-packed. I don't have a car available to me during the day. We share a car, and Chase is gone 12-13 hours a day. I rarely leave my home. I live in an apartment complex so I have PLENTY of neighbors. However, the majority of them do not speak English. I have several family members that I have been praying for for years now - as far back as I can remember. However, in that moment when the pastor prayed over us, it was none of these faces that flashed into my mind. There were 3 distinct faces I saw. 3 sweet, loving, smiling faces that captured my attention.

It was then that I realized that my mission field is in my home. I spend MANY hours alone with these 3 - soon to be 4 - little souls. God has given them to me to mold into women (and a man) who love Him and serve Him with their whole hearts. I realized that it is not enough to feed and clothe them. It's not enough to take them to church or to read the Bible to them most nights. I should be actively seeking to teach them - above ALL else - who God is and how to love and serve and follow Him with their entire being. They are all young enough that they have not reached that "age of accountability" quite yet. However, one day they will reach that age. Will they be prepared? Will I have actively tried to "seek and to save" the lost that are entrusted into my care? This is mommy-hood.

Yes, the things that fall to me on a daily basis are a vital part of mommy-hood, but if I don't care for the ultimate need, what's the point of meeting their other needs?

I don't want a mommy-hood that meets the most basic of their needs. I want to lead them to the One who can meet the biggest need they'll ever have. This is the mommy-hood I want. Suddenly mommy-hood doesn't seem so boring or repetitive. Suddenly there is purpose to all that I do for them each day. Mommy-hood. What greater blessing and responsibility????