Is the holiest, best Christian mom a stay at home mom? Depending on your context, this may be the messaging you have heard and maybe struggled with. It might be that you love your job, you need to help your family financially, or you are a better mom when you work outside of the home.
In this episode of the Bible Moms series, Kate and Rebecca travel to Greece, literally and biblically, to meet Lydia of Thyatira: a wealthy, immigrant entrepreneur, a dealer of purple cloth, and the woman whose home became the first church in all of Europe.
If you’ve ever wondered whether God can use your ordinary life, your career, your open door, your willingness to just show up, Lydia’s story is your answer.
And if you’ve ever felt the sting of the working mom vs. stay-at-home mom debate, this episode will settle something in you. Because God didn’t wait for Lydia to close her business before He opened her heart. Her influence and resources were the very things that God used to reach a people group and provide the space for them to meet as a church.
TAKEAWAYS FOR MOMS
God opens hearts that are faithfully showing up. Lydia was already meeting, already praying, already seeking — and God met her there. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Keep showing up.The working mom vs. stay-at-home mom debate is not a Bible debate. Lydia was a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and an immigrant — and God never asked her to be otherwise. The question scripture asks is: whose kingdom are you building with what you have?Your house needs you — and people need your house. Lydia didn’t just get saved; she opened her home. The first church in Europe started because someone was willing to say come in. You don’t need a perfect house. You need an open door.God goes ahead of you to prepare hearts. Before Paul ever arrived at that riverside, God had already been preparing Lydia. You are not the only one working in your children’s and your community’s lives. God goes before you.Faithfulness in your specific arena is holy work. Different arena, same consecration. Whether you’re running a business or running carpool, the question is the same — are you placing it at the feet of Jesus? SCRIPTURES REFERENCED
Acts 16:11–15 — Paul’s vision to go to Macedonia; meeting Lydia at the riverside in PhilippiActs 16:40 — Paul and Silas leave prison and return to Lydia’s house, where the church had gatheredPhilippians — Paul’s “love letter” to the church at Philippi, the very church that started in Lydia’s home EPISODE TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — Opening: Lydia, consecration, and the working mom debate06:00 — Welcome to Episode 213 + where we are in the New Testament story08:30 — Moving from the Middle East to Europe: Paul’s second missionary journey14:00 — Greece! Kate and Rebecca share their very different Greek vacation stories21:00 — The city of Philippi + why there was no synagogue (and what that tells us)26:00 — Meet Lydia: immigrant, entrepreneur, seller of purple — and what that means33:00 — The snail dye, purple cloth, and why royalty wore it (yes, really)38:00 — God opens her heart + her whole household gets baptized43:00 — Lydia prevails upon Paul to stay at her house (the Greek hospitality energy is real)48:00 — The slave girl, Paul in prison, and the earthquake — what happens while Paul is at Lydia’s53:00 — The first church in Europe starts in Lydia’s living room58:00 — Working mom vs. stay-at-home mom: what does the Bible actually say?1:04:00 — Your house needs you — and people need your house1:10:00 — Application: sharing the overflow of your faith with your family RESOURCES MENTIONED
Family Values — Gather Moms curriculum for teaching core values in the homeMoms Let’s Talk — Gather Moms curriculum for intentional faith conversations with your kidsFootsteps of Paul Tour — Rebecca’s Greece trip (highly recommend for the tzatziki alone)Gather Moms: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
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Rebecca Bradford: Instagram | Facebook