Serene Lim
The 4 Nevers
There were four nevers that I lived by before Christ:
- Never Be A Christian
- Never Get Married
- Never Have Children
- Never Be a Stay-At-Home-Mother
But God
Then God intervened and I became a Christian (1994), got married (1995), had children (1998) and became a stay-at-home-mother (1999). I even became a homeschooling mother of many (2004).
The journey has been challenging to say the least. Especially when He convicted Henson and me to trust Him with the size of our family and to homeschool. And yet, it has been extremely good in building up my faith.
Awakened Aligned Assigned
It is only upon looking back that I realized that that was the start of my awakening journey to get aligned with God so that I could be prepared to receive my assignments from Him. However, at that time, I had no idea I was being awakened, aligned or assigned. As a relatively young Christian all I wanted to do was please my Father and do what He says.
But what does trusting God with our ever growing family and homeschooling in Singapore look like? With no real-life models to follow, we were “forced” to cling to God a lot tighter and seek Him a lot more. However, this was a blessing in disguise as I had to keep going back to Him with the challenges I faced as a clueless mother of many small children. I was being refined and He was recalibrating my misalignments.
Slowly He changed my mindset and taught me to see staying home and raising the children fulltime as a ministry unto Him. It is as viable a ministry as serving as a missionary in Africa or preaching from the pulpit or heading a cell group or leading worship. We tend to see ministry as something we do IN church or FOR the church. Or it needs to be something big and impressive that impacts many lives.
Motherhood is a Ministry
As Jason Benham of the Benham Brothers said in “Christian Identity Crisis”:
“The minute you give your heart to Christ He puts you on mission to bring Him glory. Whether you’re running a talk show or preaching behind a pulpit you are a minister, so just go out there and bring God glory… So that’s our encouragement for Christians today – you are ministers, even if you’re just wiping rear-ends at home as a stay-at-home-mom.”
Jason Benham
We are ministers – hence, in ministry – even if we’re just wiping rear-ends at home as stay-at-home-moms. When I started seeing stay-at-home-motherhood as an assignment from the Lord, it changed how I mothered.
For the Kingdom
Being a stay-at-home-mother in this day and age is not popular especially if one is a university graduate. It seems wasteful. After all how on earth can one impact the Kingdom of God when we are stuck at home?
Well, being “stuck at home” means we spend a lot of time with our children, influencing them and directing their energies. This influence eventually impacts the world, albeit indirectly, when they leave our home and take on the world for the Kingdom by shining as lights in this dark world.
Behind the Scenes
Maybe because I am more introverted than extroverted, but the power of being behind the scenes appeals to me. Sure, we are not out there (for a season) doing things for the Kingdom but we are still doing things for the Kingdom – behind the scenes.
The behind-the-scenes hidden life is powerful. Few see or know it but God definitely does.
Plus, by being home with the children daily, the impact we have on our children’s faith (and even our husband’s) by just living our day-to-day life cannot be dismissed. Our children are always observing, analyzing and yes, judging us. They will have to eventually own their own faith in God. But they see it modelled for them at home first. How we live out our faith. How we seek the Lord. How we live out our assignments. They are watching and learning.
So, do not lose heart if your assignment is not as celebrated as some are. If this is what the Lord has assigned to you this season, may I encourage you to keep on aligning yourself to God, and press on to fulfil this assignment to the best of your ability with all that you have.
Dear Archippus…
Once Serene is clear of her God-given assignment as a stay-at-home-mother, it provides focus and encourages commitment. She begins to focus on how God wants her to be the godly mother bringing kingdom influence into her family. Despite the challenges of motherhood and being hidden, she stays on course and pursues all that God has for her. Salute!
To find out more on what it means to ‘Clarify Your Assignments’, read Chapter 36 of Ps Henson’s book Alignment Check.
About Serene Lim
Serene is the wife of Henson, founder of Archippus Awakening. She is a stay-at-home-homeschooling mother of 7 children here on earth. You can find out more about over at her blog Building Up Moms where she shares not only practical how- tos in running a house, homeschooling and raising her children but also encourages Christian mothers to see motherhood as a ministry unto the Lord.