As family we go

My absolute favourite band is Rend Collective.I love their music, I love their excitement and ability to share joy and I love their song writing.But most importantly I love their message, specifically - As Family We Go.This message takes on a whole new meaning to me since becoming a mom.As many as you know, my husband and I are Officers (pastors) with The Salvation Army which basically translates to we do everything together, like everything. We do have separate areas of responsibilities but we have always seen ourselves as a team when it comes to working in the church (and in life). Its tough, its interesting, we share a bed and share a desk but (most days) we make it work.When we graduated from training we were sent to a small town in Nova Scotia and immediately started trying for our first baby. This was the plan, this was something that we wanted and it was something that happened extremely fast - Daniel looks at me funny and I get pregnant...So fast forward 9 months and our little Maverick joined our family.In The Salvation Army in Canada we get three months maternity leave which probably seems amazing to some and crazy to others (we can talk more about this later) but ultimately what this meant is that I would now be spending every waking, working, eating, pastoring, parenting moment with my husband and my son (and two years later my second son).This can get messy (as I am sure you can imagine), and we really have had to figure out what being a family means as we minister in The Salvation Army and (probably more importantly) we have had to figure out parenting in the midst of ministering, working, administrating and well everything.How long do you stay in the office, can I work from home, how many toys can I carry with me, how long has my baby been in that car seat, how many people are judging my parenting, how many times are me and my husband going to disagree about work stuff in front of the kids, how much is too much on Sunday mornings, how long should I let my kid run around on Sunday mornings, I am so frustrated with my kid and now have to go meet someone, is it safe to bring my baby into this meeting, is it awkward to breastfeed my baby in front of my boss?You get my point right?As pastor moms we have a lot of extra things to figure out. I have tried so hard to separate work from family and our home life but I have quickly discovered that is next to impossible - my work is my life calling but being a mom is my life calling as well.

Solution? As Family We Go.

As family we love, as family we minister, as family we fight, as family we have fun, as family we eat MacDonald's at dad's desk, as family we visit, as family we set boundaries, as family we figure things out.As family we go.Wether or not you are a working mom, a mom in ministry, or a mom who works at home we all have to figure out how to balance everything right? Well what if its less about balance a more about family. What if its less about carving out family time and more about functioning as a family. What if God created the family to function, work, play, minster, love and be an example to the world.What if we all adopted the "As Family We Go"Some of you may know that my goal for this year is simplicity. One of the ways I want to achieve that is by creating rhythms for our family, normal non-negotiable "things" we do each week, not a schedule but rhythms. But the ultimate rhythm, the ultimate way we should function is as family - that's what God intended.Friends, lets focus on our families and doing life with them, doing all of life with all of them.So here's to 2018 and here's to your family and mine - let us take it on together!p.s. listen to the song here