Book of the Month: February

Three months in to my reading goal for 2011, and so far so good.  I am loving the Kindle and for some reason feel like I read faster using that.  No doubt it is just a psychological thing.  Also, it totally eliminates the difficult choice of choosing between the books you REALLY want to read and those that would be nice to read at some point, because you don't have to worry about shipping/handling and space on the already packed bookshelf.  I still do like the feel of a real book in my hands and I'm sure some of my virtual reads will want to be acquired in their physical form for reference in the future.  For those of us with no access to a public libraries, books in English and who can't afford paying double the price of a book to be shipped to you, the Kindle is a must have.  So thankful for technology!

In February, I read The Missional Mom: Living with Purpose at Home and in the World by Helen Lee.  A really good read and encouragement.  God's calling on my life and family automatically would place me in the category of being a missional mom, but even for me it is easy to lose sight of that as my tendancy can be to turn inward and focus on my own family instead of both inward and outward.  There are seasons of life and being a mother of young children doesn't give me the liberty to hit the "pause button" on ministry to others and our number one calling given by our heavenly Father.  So many great thoughts in the introduction alone by Helen Lee:  "Our primary calling is to be with God, to immerse ourselves in his immeasurable love and grace.   Everything else flows out of this connection, which is our absolute number one priority...we always need to put our role as mothers in the right context and never prioritize our secondary calling as a mother over our primary calling to know and love God....making motherhood your primary mission could potentially backfire and give your children the wrong message about what our essential life priority is meant to be.  But God's mission informs and guides us in all the secondary callings of our lives---motherhood, vocational paths, or our relational roles.  As we pursue God's mission in our lives--bearing witness to what Christ has done for us, making disciples here and around the world--we are able to see how He can use our secondary callings as channels through which His primary mission will be accomplished."

I regret that in the past when asked about my calling as a missionary and having children in the home, that my response was "my priority is being a mom."  I was taking the obvious for granted, that God is my number one priority.  I want my children and others to know and hear often that my relationship with Christ is the most important and then followed by my secondary callings in life.  The gifts God has given me need not be withheld or stiffled until a new season of life comes where I have more freedom and time to invest in my world, but I can still use those gifts and be an example for my children in how to reach others for Christ no matter what the season of life.