Q: What do you do in your new job, mommy?

A: Well, I’m with an organization called Samaritan’s Purse and I serve as the NW Regional Manager for Operation Christmas Child.

Q: Yeah, but what do you actually do?

A: I manage a network of volunteers that spans several states. My job is to recruit, select, equip, and lead this network of volunteers with the end in mind of having those leaders multiply themselves and develop even more volunteer leaders.

And…Lexi walks away. That’s not how the conversation happened between me and my six-year old because I know she would have been bored out of her mind and walked away from the conversation because I didn’t answer the heart of her question. Yet, this is so often how people respond to others in the elevator, the gym, in the coffee line, etc…
What was my real response?

“Lexi, I get to share the love of God to children all over the world by giving them Christmas presents! You want to help me fill shoeboxes full of toys for kids in Asia and Africa?”

It’s almost ludicrous saying it out loud, but I have the tremendous honor of not only representing Jesus Christ, but talking about and planning for Christmas year round! The cause is providing hope and love to a child who has never received a gift in his or her lifetime.

Perhaps as a working mom, it’s much more efficient to tell others what we do in terms of titles and tasks, but how much more powerful would it be if we were to translate our cause to our children and to our communities. It would turn every menial task into an act of service with a powerful impact on another life.

So tell me…what do you do for a living?