Ministry Begins at Home by Michelle S. Cox

from Leading Hearts August 2018

Leading From a Place of Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

**by AWSA Member & LH Columnist Michelle S. Cox WWW.JUST18SUMMERS.COM**

MY HUSBAND AND I LOVED THE MINISTRY-RELATED THINGS WE WERE DOING FOR GOD.

We spent many weekends on activities with the teens at church. I taught Sunday school and spent Fridays getting the bulletins ready for Sunday. More opportunities arose, and we were soon doing something church-related every day of the week, dragging our young son with us. We loved it, but it was sometimes wearying.

And then God whispered something to me one day: “You’re so busy doing things for Me that you’re too busy to spend time with Me.”

His words were so true. We’d meant well, but we’d gotten things out of balance. God wasn’t getting the attention He deserved, and our family wasn’t getting the attention it deserved either.

I’ve often heard an old saying, “Your mission field begins at home.” There’s so much truth to that. We certainly didn’t want to reach everyone else while neglecting the precious gift God had given us with our marriage and our son.

So we got on our knees and said, “God, if You’ll get us out of some of these things, we’ll be careful in the future to check with you before we say yes to every opportunity that comes along.”

Perhaps your family has gotten things out of whack as well. Here are some things we found helpful:

1. We asked God to be the keeper of our schedules.

2. We talked together before we took on new opportunities.

We’d meant well, but we’d gotten things out of balance. God wasn’t getting the attention He deserved, and our family wasn’t getting the attention it deserved either.

3. We asked, “Is this a God thing or just a good thing?”

I’m so glad we learned that lesson early on. You see, the time on our mission field at home with our sons has borne great fruit. Two of our sons are preaching the gospel to thousands of people each year. Our other son is active in music ministry in his church and is impacting young lives as he teaches at a college.

Ministry truly does begin at home—and when we keep God, family and then others in that order, we’ll bring an important balance to our lives. LH