How to Answer the Call to Poverty as Modern Mothers
How do we answer the call to poverty in our daily lives?
I’ve been wrestling with this question for years. It isn’t always practical or prudent to live in literal poverty, especially when we have children to take care of and provide for.
Also, having lived in a certain level of poverty, I have experienced the fear of having to let go of whatever little we do have, and the clawing and scraping that can accompany it. Being in literal poverty doesn’t automatically make you a virtuous person.
I’ve come to learn that the call to poverty is more of a posture of the heart.
The virtuous, rich young man was sad when Jesus asked Him to give up his many possessions and follow Him, “because he had many possessions.” (Matthew 19:16-30) He let his possessions get in the way of answering God’s call.
How often do we let other “things” – possessions, goals, ideals, ambitions, etc., no matter how much or how little we have, get in the way of God’s call in our own lives?
At Mass, during the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, I was reminded that Christ IS King. It’s a basic fact in Christianity that I knew with my mind, but don’t always fully understand or acknowledge with my heart.
Also, as an American, I have very little understanding of what living under the authority of a monarch entails.
I came to this basic realization that, as King, everything belongs to God.
Yet again, this is another basic principle of Christianity.
Yet, do we – do I, truly act in accordance with that principle – that all I own or have in my life belongs to God? I have nothing without God. I am nothing without God. All that I have around me and even my very existence belong to God.
When we have to ability and the grace (because I do truly believe it’s a grace) to really and fully come to an internal realization and awakening to that fact, we can then answer that call to poverty.
Answering that call to poverty is truly like taking care of another person’s belongings.
For example, when a friend loans us a tool, we carefully guard it and use it so that it remains in good condition. Likewise, if another friend entrusts us to watch his home, we strive to keep everything well-maintained.
Even if we are someone who only cleans the home up once he knows the owner is returning, we still make sure the home is in tip top shape before his arrival. This is often true for me when we house-sit for my parents when they are away.
Yet, what if the friend doesn’t know exactly when he will return and has no way of letting you know when he is on his way? Then, even the messiest of us will make sure to keep the home in good condition at all times in anticipation of his arrival.
Isn’t that how we are to respond to everything about our lives with Christ as our friend and our King?
So then, to answer the call to poverty, we must detach ourselves from our possessions in as much as understanding that none of it truly belongs to us, and that we have been entrusted by a friend with its care and maintenance. Doesn’t it always feel easier to let go of something that belongs to another and that we haven’t claimed as our own?
With this perspective, it is easier to answer Our Lord’s call whatever that may be and wherever it may lead. For He not only owns our earthly possessions, but also our time, our friends, our family, and everything around us that make up the life that we live.
As moms, there are so many practical opportunities to answer this call in our daily lives.
When we understand that our time is not our own, we can more easily respond joyfully to the many interruptions that come from our children. Instead of speaking harshly, we can see the interruption as part of God’s plan for that time, and then respond in a more positive way.
We can ask ourselves, “what is God trying to teach me in this moment?” We can even ask, “what can I be teaching my children in this moment?” Either way, whether we immediately care for the need or allow them to learn how to wait, we are acting in a more intentional way as we submit to the call of Our Lord in that moment.
The same is true for our ideals and dreams for ourselves and our family.
Have you ever found yourself holding on so tight to an ideal or dream for the future that you fail to see the purpose of the present?
Homesteading has always been an ideal and a dream for me, yet there were many years where I allowed that vision to consume all of my mental space. Looking back, I see where I held on too tight and allowed my disappointment and tunnel vision get in the way of experiencing the many joys that God had for me in those present moments.
When we have this tunnel vision around an ideal, we run the risk of making that ideal our idol instead of one piece of the picture.
This can be anything: Our time, our talents, our finances, our children, our ideals, our job, our spouse, etc.
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make plans, or foster a gift, or do well at our job, but each piece of our lives need to be put in their proper place – they need to be ordered well.
What better way to do that then by understanding that it isn’t ours to begin with? That it belongs to God and that He has a plan and a purpose for it.
With that perspective, it’s so much easier to joyfully accept “failed” plans and to continue moving forward in discernment. Instead of holding onto each outcome with a tight-fisted grip, we can let go of those outcomes and truly follow Him by understanding it to be His will in that moment.
To fully answer God’s call to poverty in our lives, we must have personal relationship with Him.
As moms, this can be challenging. With so much going on, it’s easy to wonder where we fit in the time to foster that relationship with Our Lord. My post, Productive Morning Routine for a Stay at Home Mom, can help answer that question. If you’re not sure what to even pray, Daily Devotions for Moms for the Busy Holiday Season, might be helpful.
