With our first summer team here I've been pondering this question. I'm trying to be a good mother and helping Madison finish her last week of school well, spending time with her, etc. Trying to be a good wife and assist where I can. Trying to be a missionary and prepare meals, clean the house, prep for ministry, be a nurse at our clinic. I feel pulled in so many directions at once. Many people look at me and wonder why I feel pulled because I have a thirteen year old after all, and for some reason people assume that she can be left to her own accord, and I don't need to guide her into woman hood. Not sure why people assume this. I feel this is such an important time in her life - honestly - more important than most other times of her life. This is when she will make the good v.s. bad decisions that will potentially effect the rest of her life. Anyway...I digress...I so know I am not unique in this particular situation. Any mother/missionary/wife feels the same. Where is the balance? When do you feel like you are participating or spending so much time doing "stuff" that you aren't involved in the team, but knowing that there is much to be done to be a helper and a good wife/mother/missionary. Sigh...if ANYONE has the perfect answer - please let me know. I think the answer is there IS no perfect answer! I think that trying to find the balance is what it is all about. Trying to be a wife/mother/missionary (WMM) and just being what God would have us be.
So - signing off - this WMM.
6 comments:
Hey girl...you know I've struggled with this, especially the first two years. I have no perfect answer, but God has shown me that my ultimate purpose is finding, enjoying and maintaining (abiding) in Him. He has also shown me that my husband will be so much more effective when he (and our family) become my main ministry. By that I mean that everything else can fall away, be forgotten, or someone else can fill in if he or our kids have needs to be filled. I have such great joy in life and ministry now that I have gotten to the point where that is how my life and priorities are arranged. I still have ministry of my own, but it is far less than before and we as a couple are so much stronger and I am a better mom. My relationship with the Lord is much deeper as well.
Have you ever thought of hiring some of the ladies in Aremenio Bonita to cook the meals/clean the house/do the laundry?
When our team came in March, we had a team from each church (the two that we work with) who cooked all the meals for us. It worked wonderfully and it freed me up to tend to my kids and be available for the things Matt needed. I was not too exhausted to spend time with the team and I also did not need to be running around all the time "doing" because the cooks had it under control.
Madison is such a great girl...soak her up now...I'm praying for you, my friend!!!
Love you,
Brooke :)
(PS: Drinking my coffee and pretending we could be face to face chatting and praying together about this...I miss you much)
PSS: part of the charge for food for the team included an offering for the cooks from the churches as a gift to them for their service...and we bought all the food ahead of time and then we only had to go to the store if we were missing something
When you do find that perfect balance, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! :)
But I agree that finding help to do those things that others can do is essential. When we ran a guesthouse and I homeschooled nine kids (mine and two other family's), I needed help. We got a older woman who did the housekeeping and cooking. As a bonus, she brought her teenage daughter who functioned as my baby's nanny during that time. I had to take time for my baby after school hours, but I could do that because I had someone cooking supper and cleaning up afterwards.
And when groups or families came through, I simply had to tell my housekeeper that 8 are coming, and please prepare these rooms.
Oh, and school also worked around nursing the baby - I listen to a lot of readers while feeding my baby.
Balance and getting help are key.
I don't know you but I ran across your blog in a google search. My husband and I are thinking/planning to move to Copan, Honduras to start a small business/ministry there. Currently I am a nurse and would love to hear what nursing is like there. Do you run a clinic or do you work in a local one? I'm an adult ICU nurse currently. I would love to continue working to keep my skills up and to keep my license active. In response to your question about being a WMM, I'm not at all experienced but I do know that God offers us the opportunity to get back up everyday and follow Him. A plus is that His mercies are new every morning!
Dorothy
Dorothy - I actually run my own little clinic out of one of the existing buildings in the area we work in. A local Honduran doctor volunteers with us. It's a great chance for teaching and education for so many disease processes and health in general as most have never received even the "basic" education about health.
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