Humble Parenting

Mark 9 (NRSV)

³⁵[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

So today, as I read the new Advent-Nativity devotional book that Matt gave me as an early gift, the above passage was part of the Gospel reading. Somehow, as many times as I’ve read and heard these verses, I never really put verses 35-37 together in my mind. Somehow they always seemed separate to me. You know, if you want to be first, then be a servant. OK. Got that. (Not that I do it all that well, but I understand, you know?) Then, it seemed like a separate thing to me…welcome everyone in Jesus’ name, even little children. Well, that seems obvious. Who wouldn’t want to welcome children, right?

Here’s the thing, though. When I read it this morning, I thought about what it means to be a mother in Jesus’ eyes. It’s putting myself even after my children. Serving THEM means welcoming them. It means being last, even behind my children. In my sinful, false-martyr-like mind, I often hear myself saying, “When do I get to…” Fill in the blank: eat a hot dinner, have a career that gains me some kind of recognition, get to sleep a whole night without waking up, wear nice clothes that don’t have rice krispies stuck to them, have a house that is clean and tastefully decorated, worship without having to leave the sanctuary with a child screaming for Elmo, and the list goes on and on and on and… Wow, I really do think about myself way too much.

What would it look like if instead, I spent my mental energy in prayer and humility, asking how I can serve Jesus by serving my children instead of wondering when I get my share. The faces of my children are the faces of the God who loves and who not only gave up a hot meal, but gave up his glory and honor to come into this world as…a child. I imagine Mary, nursing her newborn baby, chasing after him as a toddler, searching for him when he was in the Temple, all the while serving humbly the God of the Universe.

So, I’m going to pray for the humility and patience I need to remember that in serving my own family, I am serving the God of the Universe. I might not miss that hot dinner quite so much…