This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Godspeed Pictures, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #wherehopegrowsmoviehttp://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
"I'm just a mom." Have you ever found yourself saying that? I know that I have caught myself saying that phrase... More than once this year even!
My primary job for the past 16 years has been that of a stay at home mom. I graduated college married with a toddler and despite the degree with the fresh ink, we had decided that I would stay at home and be the primary caregiver of our children.
One child, turned to three {how does that happen?!} and I loved my role as a mom. Though there were times that I felt like I was saying no to God and opportunities that He had given me because of limitations that I was setting on myself. I was in a season on life that placed limitations on my schedule because the kids were young and I was the primary caregiver, but as the kids got older, I realized I started hiding behind those limitations and using them as an excuse. Thankfully, our perceived limitations do not stand in the way of God's purpose.
This time last year, the opportunity to travel to Uganda, Africa with World Vision was an opportunity that God placed in my lap and that I remember clearly coming up with excuse after excuse as to why I shouldn't go. It was an expensive trip and we had college tuition on the horizon. Our oldest son was getting ready to turn 16 and our insurance was going to double just for the privilege of him having the ability to drive. Both my husband and I were driving cars with over 100,000 miles on them. Was the lifelong dream trip to Africa really worth the financial sacrifice? It didn't seem like a wise game plan.
Once we got past the financial aspect and decided to trust God with the funding for that {he came through in a mighty way!}, we then had the reality of our schedules to work out. I was going to be gone for nearly two weeks in the middle of the summer. Our kids were older, but they weren't old enough to be home unsupervised for several weeks straight while my husband worked and I was gone. It would have been like The Hunger Games! My parents were amazing enough to offer to fly my younger kids to stay with them in Arizona while I was gone...a trip that they still talk about because it was so much fun!
I was traveling with people I knew from church but that I didn't really know. I was leaving the continent for the first time ever, I didn't speak the language, I was branching out of my comfort zone. It was hard to get past all of my self imposed limitations but thankfully, I did. And God used me and is still using me to serve the people in Africa.
I have found in this past year that the only person who can stop us from being the person God wants us to be is ourselves, by saying no to the opportunities that God gives us. I have been scared, intimated, overwhelmed, felt unworthy and yet God has chosen to work though me. I'm just a mom but I'm a mom that has said yes. I'm just a mom but I'm choosing to trust in Him.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to pre-screen the movie "Where Hope Grows". "Where Hope Grows" is a great new film that focuses on finding redemption through faith, hope and love. An unlikely friendship between a young man with the nickname Produce {after his job at the supermarket} living with Down Syndrome and a middle aged alcoholic single father, named Calvin, bring to light that God uses our limitations.
As a mom with two teenagers, finding movies that are engaging and appropriate and that they want to watch is sometimes hard. While tackling some hard issues, this movie did those things in a way that brought light to some tough issues including bullying and alcoholism. Not only did it my 13 year old daughter relate to the characters and become quite attached to Produce, I also was able to relate to the story.
I may be just a mom, but I'm a mom that can do some great things. Not because I'm doing them, but because God is working through me. He can work though "just moms" or "just the produce boy" if we let him. I know you will enjoy this film as much as we did. Take a peek at the trailer.
Check your local theaters for showtimes. Where Hope Grows is being released on May 15. You don't want to miss it!
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