Three years ago I would have very quickly and adamantly told you that I never wanted to get married and never wanted to have children. That was before World Race. For those 11 months, God put me in relationship with the man of my dreams and confirmed over and over again that He designed for us to be together. I would also tell you that one of the major themes of my World Race was learning about God's Mothering Heart. I could show you countless emails between my friend Carol and I about the children I was surrounded with and how God was teaching me to love them - not because I had to, but because I longed to see them receive the love they needed. It was a long process. I've always been pretty good with kids - a great babysitter for a few hours - as long as I could give them back when I was done. World Race created something different in me - a Mother's Heart.

 

Fastforward... here we are preparing to meet our team for this summer. As I'm praying for this group, before I've ever met them, God very clearly shows me that He has called me to this trip to focus on the participants. Yes, there will be ministry and I will be involved. But the passion He gave me for this season was to build relationships with the girls on the team and see God's Kingdom come in their own lives.

 

As training camp began, God began to reveal a lot about each participant's home life. Some of them came from great homes with wonderful parents - and they were homesick for the love their parents poured out on them. Some of them came from homes where they struggled with their parents - and they needed to feel a loving Mother's Heart. As I looked over all the situations in our team, God clarified my purpose on this trip: "I need you to Mother them."

 

Immediately my mind went back to all that I had learned on World Race. What does it mean to mother? And not just one baby... but NINE TEENAGERS!!! As I walked back in time in my memory I remembered all the things God had taught me:

 

"they don't need a best friend. they need a mom."

"they need to be held."

"they need to know you care."

"love them too much to leave them where they are right now. desire more for them than what they can currently see."

"walk beside them."

"be proud of them."

"look beyond their wants. see their needs."

"it's not about what's best for me. love sacrifically."

"each one is an individual and there is no recipe for success. get to know them apart from any preconceived ideas."

"release them into all God has for them. never hold on."

 

The list goes on and on. As the trip began I felt confident for the first time that I could step into this role for my team. And then came one of the most encouaraging nights...

 

As we sat in a circle to debrief our day, we decided to take time to encourage each person on the team. So we would say "Now Hope... ready go." And three people would speak up and say how they saw Jesus in Hope... or what they appreciated about Hope. When it came to my turn, here is what I heard - "You are the example of what it means to be a Godly mother..." "You are the mother I needed on this trip..." "thank you for how you mothered me in this way..."

 

I found tears in my eyes as I realized that I had truly learned what God began teaching me 2 years ago. Of course I wasn't perfect... no mother ever is... but when God called me to show His mothering heart to these precious children, I was ready. Wow... praise Jesus for taking me from "never wanting kids" to being a mother to the nations!