A Note from Chris Adams: As a mom of young daughters, I began to serve in and through my church. When I served for the first time in a community ministry to low income daycare kids, I remember thinking, “I don’t ever NOT want to serve.” I was so blessed by getting to serve. Often moms are so busy that they struggle to find a way to give back to others. Today, Dr. Deb Douglas, First Baptist Church, Bossier City, LA shares helpful tips for helping busy moms serve others.
At a recent YOU Lead event, I met Faye Morgan. The family ministry at her church, First Baptist Fort Lauderdale, has found a way to make it easy for moms to serve others. They call it Mom2Mom (M2M), and it provides short, easy to achieve opportunities to reach beyond the church and into the community.
Their motto is: Live Simply | Give More | Expect Less
I love that motto! Instead of expecting to go to an event where it’s all about me, their goal is to expect less for themselves and give more to others.
Why is that important? When we look beyond ourselves, our world gets larger and in perspective, our problems (and our dramas), get smaller. Serving others brings joy and contentment!
How can we bring this concept to ministry to moms in our churches?
- Make service opportunities doable.
- Provide childcare near the place of service.
- Remember school carpool times when planning to make childcare easier.
- Keep service opportunities manageable.
- Keep it short (1-1 ½ hours works best!).
- Have all needed supplies available and ready.
- Vary the times and types of service.
- Not every type of service is appealing to everyone. For instance, serving a meal at a homeless shelter one month is great for some, while painting a room for a senior adult is perfect for others.
- Need more ideas?
- Plant a garden for a person going through treatment for cancer.
- Give care packages to assisted living residents.
- Make tied blankets for the homeless.
- Assemble goody bags for the local ministry to sex trade workers.
- Prepare and serve a meal for first responders.
- Not all moms are stay-at-home moms! Provide opportunities to serve in the evening and or on weekends.
- Enlist help.
- When women own the leadership, they are more invested and more eager to invite others to join in the service opportunities.
- Be prepared.
- Go to the place of service beforehand to check out the details, directions, and needs.
- Have a secondary option, just in case!
- Make it inexpensive.
- Be sure it’s easy for all moms to afford.
- Make it relational.
- Have fun! Laugh, encourage conversations by carpooling, and include coffee breaks.
- Serving together provides encouragement and builds relationships among the moms. You’ll also be able to reinforce why serving is important and what was achieved through the project.
As Faye Morgan talked about what the service projects meant to her and the other moms at First Baptist Fort Lauderdale, her eyes twinkled and her excitement was evident. Wouldn’t you like to see the moms in your church react the same way? Get busy and get serving!
Dr. Deb Douglas has served in women’s ministry for over 37 years. Now she spends her time working with Purchased Ministry, a ministry to women in the sex trade industry. Deb is also the Director of Biblical Counseling at First Baptist Church, Bossier City, LA. She was the first to graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological seminary with a Masters degree focusing on women’s ministry and has earned a Doctor of Education in Ministry degree from NOBTS. She is “Pearl” to 3 sweet grand babies, “Mom” to Jared Douglas and Katie Chavis, and wife/sweetheart to Paul Douglas.