Serving Like Mom

Thursday 2/2/2012 5:11 AM

I call my mom weekly and during the course of our conversations she often makes a statement where she minimizes the effect of her life on those around her by saying that she was only a mom.  The unstated implication is that women who have careers and work at a job outside the home somehow carry more clout than those who serve in the confines of their homes.  It bothers me when I hear her say those kinds of words because I think it robs her of joy and it discounts the ways that God has used her to shape the lives of those around her.

When I read Psalm 116:16 today I thought about those conversations with my mom.  “Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.”  I am especially drawn to the phrase, “I serve you just as my mother did.”  Over the course of the last few months I have wondered about the effectiveness of my life in the building of God’s kingdom.  I feel as if there is little or no fruit that has been evidenced and I often have this thought running through my mind: “I am only a math teacher.”  Of course, like my mom, this kind of thinking robs me of joy.  It would seem I am serving God just like my mother did, bound by the chains of my thoughts and words.  I pray that God will give me the grace to experience the ending of that verse: “You have freed me from my chains.”  Then I will be able to experience true freedom and joy.