Momentum: How to Get UnstuckSýnishorn

Walking around with a flock of children from different nationalities and various ethnicities as your own, keeps people guessing. Onlookers can’t make the mental leap that we are a family. Instead, people evaluate and accuse. A common inquiry centers on whether all eight children are “mine.” My affirmative “yes,” ushers in accusatory body language and remarks. What besides inappropriate behavior could land me in a position to have children with at least four different fathers?

Other inquiries are equally wrong, but humorous. Some are even outright outlandish. Do I run a daycare? (It seems so.) Are we having a party? (Most days.) Is this outing a school trip? (No.) Am I leading a tour? (No, again.) And my favorite guesstimate, am I a hockey coach? (No, but thank you for the confidence booster.)

I’m just a mom. That role, frankly, is as outrageous as mistaking me for a hockey coach. It’s not a position I desired or strove toward. Remind me to explain how we all came together another time. For now, one thing is certain. It wasn’t a result of my desire to be a mother.

I was like other educated women from my generation and the current one, stuck in my personal endeavors. Life was complete looking out for me. The last thing I considered was setting everything I had worked toward aside to wipe dirty bottoms and play with Barbies®. The problem with my mentality was that it runs contrary to becoming like Jesus.

Not only does Jesus tell us to look to interests beyond ourselves, serving rather than being served, He shows us how to do it. When Jesus could have claimed authority and demanded service, even homage from others, He assumed the role of a servant. Jesus looked beyond Himself to serve those who should have served Him until it killed Him.

Facing the fear of losing myself to serve another has taught me that looking beyond me is one of the most freeing gifts God has ever given.

Where is God asking you to serve? Who is He wanting you to see? Perhaps it’s the person already placed around you. Who knows? Maybe God is calling you to be a hockey coach? 

Find your momentum. The way forward looks a lot like Jesus. 

Look beyond yourself.