It's a Single Mom Thing, Not the Single Thing That Stops You!
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Welcome to it's a Single Mom Thing, the show for single moms by single moms. This is Share your Host and I am happy you are here today. Remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Well, I'm here and I'm not here. If you remember, last week I told you I was going to be away for two weeks and well, I decided to do a little comeback. But, like I said, it's a little comeback.
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You are a part of a special edition rewind on selfless service, but this comes upon the heels of why I'm back. You see, I had the privileged opportunity to be a part of a mission trip. It was an eye that went on a mission trip, but it was a mission trip of students from Indian Rocks Christian School who came to Shepherd's Village to serve the single moms and their children and not serve themselves. It was one of those blessing opportunities. You know where there is a lesson in the blessing. That's a blessing, in my opinion, and I think the lesson and the reminder for us as a staff who work with single moms and their children was this, and it comes from 1 Peter 410. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace, and the gifts that these students left us with is that it is a gift to serve you. So enjoy this episode on selfless service and be sure to stay to the end, because there is a sweet word of encouragement from one of our students and one awesome announcement you won't want to miss. Enjoy the show.
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Have you ever thought about solo parenting as service? Now you might be thinking yourself you mean like a job or service I get paid for, girl. I wish I got paid for all the time I spent picking up the miles and piles of toys, toiletries and trails of clothes all over my house. I mean, if that were the case, I wouldn't have to pick up an extra shift as an Uber driver to make you know the dollar, dollar bills to pay the bills. You know what I mean. Podcast host. So I guess I could say I seriously never thought about solo parenting as service. But let me tell you there are days that it sure does feel like full time maid service.
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Welcome to another episode of. It's a Single Mom Thing. So if you know me by now, I like to make light of what is a heavy load as being a solo parent. So today I want us to spend our time together around this devotional thought on service. Now, if you are a Christian solo parent listening to this podcast, trust me, you are in service.
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The question is, to whom are you in service to? Is it to self or selfless? I bet you never thought about single parenting that way, maybe because, quite honestly, you don't have time to think, as you are always just doing or responding to what someone else is doing. But what are you doing and have you thought about the way in which you're doing it? As a fly and solo parent, you have been blessed with an opportunity to serve someone else besides yourself. You have been given the gift of a ministry. As you minister to your minis, even in the solo season Especially in the solo season, as you have a captivated audience, you, as the primary parent, have the privilege to be the one who either pours into your kiddos or pours out on them all the drama and trauma.
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Now, trust me, I know at times being a solo feels more like a millstone around your neck. But what if it didn't have to be that way? Is it possible to stay afloat when it feels like most times you are barely keeping your head afloat as you tread water. And the answer is yes, girl, yes, self service or selfless service, being a single parent is a blessing, albeit at times. There are a lot of things to be stressing over, no doubt. But I can say from experience, when I focused on how I could serve my son rather than myself, it did become easier. Now, mind you, the things I had to deal with in a day didn't change, but how I did them did change. So, if I'm honest, I didn't start off being this awesome single parent. On the contrary, I was quite selfish and it took God getting in my way, revealing that getting my way was not the way I was to lead or serve my family. Only thing that served were some dirty dishes. I was led on my knees, removing myself from the situation, putting God, then my son, first in every situation.
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And listen, I remember the day that happened. As per usual, I had a long laundry list of all the things I needed to get done to keep our household held together. And well, my son getting sick was a major holdup. I didn't have time to stop the avalanche of errands and things I had to do and my son not wanting to take his medicine to help him get better didn't better the situation. In fact, it created a new situation for me, as I didn't hold it all together In that moment. I had me a moment and it wasn't pretty. The selfish things that flew out of my mouth as my hand raised up weren't going to serve anyone well until my father stepped in. So, just as my hand wound back, did the Lord give me a holy holdup moment?
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And back on my own childhood, seeing how a similar moment didn't serve me well. In fact, it took me out of service for a very long time. Just like that, I put both my hand and my head down. In that moment I knew I didn't want to do to my son what was done to me, what was done to my mom, her mom and her mom before her. I wanted something different, and that's when God showed me how to do something different Serve someone other than myself. You see, it wasn't really about the checklist, you know. It was about me, me and well, me doing it all by myself. Look at me, I'm all alone. Now that's called a pity party that nobody wants to go to.
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You see, every day is an opportunity to choose either self-service or self-less service, by asking yourself things like this Is my family all about me or is it about the we? Am I raising a future husband or am I raising a future has been? Am I teaching my daughter to do something different or am I teaching her to do the same thing that was done to me? Am I teaching my kids to be selfless or am I teaching them to be selfish? You see, when we accepted Jesus, when I accepted Jesus as our Savior, we died to self. Ephesians 422-24 says it this way you were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self created to be like God and true righteousness and His holiness. You see, when we died to self, we didn't become self-made. We made a choice to serve the one who made us.
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Get yoked, not woke. Here is where I will close. So how do you perform in a selfless service? Well, first off, it's no longer about performing, it's about perspective. It's what you focus on that counts. Are you focused on your kids or are you focused on yourself? Secondly, it's about having a holy hold up moment. Focus on Him, jesus, to help me, hold my household together, to hold me together. It's not about the world's way of getting woke. It's about you getting yoked with the one who wants to serve alongside you, and that is Jesus. Matthew 11, 29-30. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. To serve selfless, you have to be yoked to the one who is equipped to carry the burden with you and for you.
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At no other time in my life did I really embrace this until I became a sold out for Christ single parent. Quickly it became apparent I couldn't be of service to my family if I tried to parent by myself. I needed the Father's help. You see, when I didn't enlist His service, everything became lip service. I just got tired, frustrated, worn out and weary. But when I picked up His yoke as he commanded together, the weight of the service was equally distributed between the two of us as we walked out parenting together. No longer did I have to do it all by myself. Yes, I still have my laundry list of things I got to do and I'm not telling you to get rid of yours either, but I would suggest keeping both Jesus and your family at the top of your list so he can prioritize the area he wants you to serve first. And guess what? It might even be a day of rest for you so you can continue to serve selfless instead of self-self. So I hope you enjoyed this simple devotion on selfless service.
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As promised, I said I would end this podcast with a little word of encouragement from one of our students, and this comes from Miriam, who is a ninth grader, and this is the reflection that she shared with us, that she also wanted us to share with you, and it's titled Shepard's Village Reflection. She says I had heard of Shepard's Village before I came to serve here. I thought it was housing for single mothers and not more. That was until I went to serve myself. I saw that Shepard's Village was not just housing for single mothers but a community. Education, resources and God were just some of the many things offered. Shepard's Village wanted not only to help single mothers but to help build them up with love and spiritual guidance.
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After spending time at Shepard's Village, I can say most definitely that my perspective has changed Another aspect of mine that had changed was my perspective on single mothers and just how much they struggle. Over 45% of single mothers live below poverty level and, with rising costs, this has caused them to resort to living out of their cars or couch surf from one place to another. As part of one of our learning opportunities, the staff had us go through a single mom obstacle course that was built for our mini-Mr Teen so that we could see the struggle of being a single mom before and the growth of mom after going through Shepard's Village. The obstacle course, though fun and stressful, showed us a sliver of struggle, of raising kids all alone, until help was offered. To all my wonderful single peeps listening you are not alone. For more inspiration and useful information, visit shepardsvillagecom. Helping single mothers and their children face their future with confidence.
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Did you know that we're turning 100? Well, turning over to the 100th episode on Easter Sunday, march 31st. It's a special edition with a special message for you. Have a wonderful week and remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Thanks for listening to it's a Single Mom Thing. I hope you enjoyed our time together. If you have more questions on how to have a relationship with Jesus or need prayer. Visit us at wwwshepardsvillagecom. Backslash prayer. For more information and resources, check out our show notes.
