HOLY DINOSAURS!

Parenthood has a way of changing you.

It stretches you in ways you didn’t expect.  

It grows you in ways you didn’t even know needed growth.

It exposes the worst, but brings out the best.

I never imagined how much I’d enjoy being a mom…how something so draining could be so fulfilling. It’s the kind of joy that’s messy and unpredictable, but totally unmatched.

Its Beautiful. 

Its Chaotic.

Its Holy. 

Confession Time…

I never thought I wanted to be a mom. I was a child who gravitated toward adults. I never babysat…never volunteered in Kids Ministry as a teen…my younger brother was less than appealing to me when he was born.  I have just never been drawn to children.  

When I married Cole, I knew kids were in our future mainly because it was “the thing to do” and I didn’t want to be an old lady who regretted never having kids.  But the thought of being a mother felt suffocating.  The fear of being trapped in a world of children, with no identity of my own. I always felt the God’s purpose for my life was SO much bigger than motherhood…cooking, cleaning, changing poopy diapers.  

My life was to be greater

until…

The Lord spoke a word to me in a little house in Weatherford, Texas where Cole and I were building a life together, and asked me if I trusted him. He began convincing me that this was a large area of fear and control.  This was something I had chosen to keep God out of. I surrendered all of my fears and my agenda to Him that day.

Sweet Walter Cole, my firstborn son, was in my arms 9 months later.

And oh man….I had no idea how much Motherhood would truly rock my world.  The joy, peace, fruit, the Presence of God, the growth…it has all flooded my life more than any other experience, more than any ministry I’ve been a part of.  

My beautiful twins, Miriam and Arthur, came three years later, and a new wave of gifts and life came with them. 

I have three incredible disciples.  

I am changing the world through them, as they are changing mine.

The suffocation never came, the breath of Life did.

The loss of identity never came, a new identity rooted in the most loving Father did.

The loss of purpose bloomed into the finding of purpose.

Cooking, Cleaning, Changing diapers?

This is Holy work. There is nothing more important than this. 

In fact, I quit my ministry job for MORE time being a mother.  

I can’t get enough of it.

Yesterday, I was on the floor putting together a new Dinosaur puzzle with all three kids.  Through the bickering, stealing of pieces, and frustration, we managed to complete it, and my three year old son yelled out “Hallelujah!”

I heard the Holy Spirit whisper…

”Look how you’ve led him in worship. This playroom floor is Holy Ground.

This Dinosaur puzzle is a Holy Work. These disciples are my Holy Nation.”

And I am beyond excited to continue this particular ministry in England, there is nothing I want to do more.

This is my Holy Work…The Ministry of Dinosaur Puzzles and Poopy Diapers.

- Kelsey