A New Year and Exposure

I came across this pic the other day over on Pinterest and while it made me giggle just a bit, it also caused me to take a pretty long pause.  It reminded me of the deep importance of my job as a mama to my little gals. While I pray often that they would have a personal relationship with Jesus, have a deep burden for the lost, and care about serving others – it’s not really my “job” to make them “catch” that burden. It is however my job to expose them to the need and the opportunity and the lostness all around them.

But the question that I often ask myself is, am I exposing them to those things?  Am I putting before them the “eternal” things that really matter? Are they seeing in me a burden for the lost? Are they watching me stop to give someone a bottle of water or point them to the nearest homeless shelter – or are they watching me walk by without a care? Are they hearing me pray for my lost friend who desperately needs Jesus and then sharing truth with that friend? Are they seeing me seek reconciliation and forgiveness when I’ve done wrong? Are they seeing me praying for the nations?

I desire more than anything to be intentional about exposing our gals to Jesus and ways that they can serve and love Him and others and  I see that fleshing itself out in several ways:

1. Making sure that we (my hubby and I) are in the Word of God together as a family. The Bible is the most important book that we will ever read together and on our own. God speaks through His word so therefore we must be reading it and seeking wisdom from it. My deepest burden for serving others has to start here.
2. Putting before them opportunities to “go”. Maybe it’s across the street to the neighbors house because we baked them cookies after their baby was born. Maybe it’s encouraging them to use their own money to buy supplies for a children’s shelter. Maybe it’s stopping to pray for a different country each night at dinner. The list goes on – but I gotta do the work to create that list. That part is my job. My four year and two year old aren’t going to ask me to teach them about other countries. They can’t plan a playdate where they focus on prayer walking or go Christmas caroling at a nursing home. But I can, if I take the time and do the work which Christ has called me too.
3. Evaluating my own heart to see if I truly have a burden for the lost? How do I spend my time? How do I spend my money (says a LOT about what I value!) Do I intentionally pray, give, go, welcome, and send in my own heart and life?  And then how does that show up in the life of my children.

As we begin a New Year here over at On Mission Moms, I’m looking forward to seeing how we will lead our little ones to love Jesus and serve Him together and it starts with me, with you. So let’s expose them to all the things that will draw them closer to Christ and His work around the world!

Here are just a few resources to begin to expose them to the world around them:

(These are affiliate links and @OnMissionMoms does receive a super small portion if you purchase them from the link above. Thanks for supporting our work!)

 

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