Outreach as a Mom

I love this week's topic because I've looked forward to being a mom for so long AND being a mom gives us so many unique opportunities to reach out to others. No matter what culture we live in, kids are such a natural door opener. Instead of looking at this season of life (with small children at home) as a season we can't make a difference in others' lives, we have so many creative ways to impact others.

I'm a SAHM but I use that term loosely. While my primary role is in the home as a wife and mother, I daily/weekly look at how I can best steward this role God has put me in to bless others. I try to build relationships through my daughter. I've found that, while I know women without children, it is much easier for me to consistently invest in relationships when Lydia can be involved. For the past two years, I have also been studying the language of the people we live among. While this has been challenging and stretching in many ways, I've tried to keep the end goal of being able to communicate in their heart language and invest in those I live among. Outreach is all about relationships, so here are some ways I try to build relationships as a mother living in another culture.

• Building relationships through my daughter - which, where we live, involves trips to parks where Lydia can play with other children and I can meet other mothers. We mix up the times and days to meet more people.


• Following through on these relationships by intentionally inviting them over or agreeing to go to their home when invited.


• Getting to know - and then spending intentional time each week - with our neighbors.


• Organizing a play group with other young mothers with children so Lydia can play and the mothers can talk. This is currently not with mothers who are nationals, but instead are foreigners. Most don't know Him, and Lydia loves this time, but my ultimate goal is to find nationals who would like to do this (there are a host of obstacles to this in the eyes of nationals so I'm still praying and asking Him to open doors).

These are the "biggies" for me right now. There are other things we're praying through because living in another culture definately presents its own unique challenges. All this to say, I just encourage you to first of all praise God for this wonderful season of life where we get to be young moms with small children and then ask for wisdom as to how he wants to use you and your children to be a blessing to others.