It was such a joy to get to share on Freedom in Motherhood a bit about Agape Moms and living on mission for Jesus in our everyday, messy mom-lives! I have absolutely loved getting to know Stephanie Tanner, discovering her and I both have a shared mission of encouraging moms in the gospel, not just on our social pages, but in our everyday lives. If you missed Stephanie’s guest post on the Agape Moms Blog a few weeks ago, click here to read it.

One of my biggest goals, and the heart behind Agape Moms is creating unity and collaboration with other gospel-centered ministries, always pointing our readers back to as many other resources as possible! I have been so encouraged by the Biblical teaching, resources and community of Freedom and Motherhood, and I hope you will follow along with them too if you have an instagram account.

Below is my interview with Stephanie on Freedom in Motherhood, shared with permission here for those who don’t have an instagram. I hope it encourages you to live on mission for Jesus in your everyday, messy mom-life!

I’m so excited to introduce you to Laura DiLeonardi, founder of Agape Moms. We met on Instagram and have been texting and talking on Voxer ever since. She has been such an encouragement to me in how they live their lives on mission for Christ. This is Laura’s interview. Enjoy!

1) Tell us a little bit about you and your family and what you do.

Hi, I’m Laura and my husband Matt and I have been married for almost 10 years and have 3 kids, Jackson, Selah and Lucy. We enjoy investing in whatever community God places us in by getting to know our neighbors, volunteering in our kids’ schools, sports teams and being active at local places like the Y. We live on mission together as a family, intentionally loving those God places around us for His glory!

2) What does it mean to live on mission for Jesus in everyday, messy mom-life?

Living on mission for Jesus in our everyday, messy mom-lives is first the result of the gospel taking root in our hearts and then overflowing into our lives. When Jesus is everything to us, we can’t help but share about Him! The gospel precedes mission and fuels us for it. Living on mission for Jesus is a lifestyle, it’s seeing everyone in our lives intentionally placed there by God for us to love and share Christ with.

Jesus calls us to live on mission for Him just as we are, as moms with messy buns, driving Cheerio infested minivans, while balancing very full schedules. Living on mission isn’t something to add to our lists, it’s meant to be the central aspect of everything on our lists already. Needing a space to dig deeper with those I encountered on mission is how God burdened me to start the first Agape Moms missional community. Later he pushed me to launch a website to help equip moms everywhere to begin their own Agape Moms where they could also gather believing and not-yet believing women to grow together in the gospel.

3) What does the Bible command us to do in terms of the great commission?

Christ left each one of his followers with the mission to make disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. This well known passage is sometimes seen as only for missions trips, programs or pastors, but it’s crucial that we see this command is for every believer, including moms and kids! It was life changing for me to learn that the Greek word for “go” in this passage is in a tense that means “as you are going,” which lines up with what we see in Acts vs. waiting for special events only to share the gospel. Christ calls us into a lifestyle of making disciples as we are going about everyday, messy mom-life. It can’t wait until the kids grow up or until we are more put together, there are people right now living without the hope of Christ! God has intentionally placed others around us to share Jesus with, and allowing them into our mess may be one of the best ways for them to see Christ at work in us. It’s all about Jesus!

4) How does the truth of the gospel give us the strength to do that?

When the gospel comes in, it explodes in our hearts and overflows into our lives, it’s something we can’t keep inside. Once we realize we could never earn our salvation or maintain our good standing with God by our own effort, it changes everything about our motivation to live for God. Legalism says try harder so God will love and accept you, but the gospel says you are already fully loved and accepted in Christ! Legalism is rooted in fearful obedience, but the gospel roots us in God's unconditional love, producing joyful service to God and others.

5.) What should we do when we fail to live on mission for Jesus?

We are bound to fail and make mistakes, but this only amplifies our need for the Cross in our lives. We will never mature so much that we don’t need to visit the foot of the cross every day, and then stand up, again and again, in the power of the Holy Spirit, giving us the power to live for God. Nothing done in our own strength is pleasing to Him, or bears true spiritual fruit, no matter what the outward appearance is. We should often prayerfully examine our lives to see if we are living in obedience to Christ and his Word, remembering the Holy Spirit promises to equip us for it all. Instead of feeling shame over the ways we will struggle, we must accept Christ’s perfect performance on our behalf, die to ourselves, and then rely on the Spirit alone to live for Him.

6.) How might this look different based on seasons in our lives?

While seasons in life will perpetually change, the central command to love God and others will not, however the specifics we should be daily praying about. God may redirect us and we should hold our plans in open palms, ready to shift course. Daily asking God, “open my eyes and show me who you want me to love or serve today,” while praying for open doors for the gospel is a great place to start, and continually live! You may be surprised at who is already there right next to you at the park, or the simple thing God will put on your heart to do. He’s got the master plan, we just need to trust and obey Him.

7.) How can we teach our children and encourage them to live on mission for Jesus?

We can learn from Jesus’ example with his disciples that the best classroom is walking it out together in real life! Jesus explained truth with everyday examples they could understand and he modeled loving God and others in the unplanned situations of everyday life. Just think of the things the disciples observed: Jesus radically loving the outcasts and sinners, frequently withdrawing from them to pray, washing their feet, and the way he asked questions that got straight to the heart of people- these are things you can’t teach in a classroom. As moms who are making disciples of our children, we should both teach our kids to study God’s word, then together, live on mission for Jesus. Let us commission our children to love God and others in their classrooms, sports teams and at the park. The way we teach them to think about those who don’t yet know Jesus is something they’ll hang onto. Are these people an enemy to avoid, or an image bearer to love? Let’s lead them in the example of Christ himself.

8.) What’s something fun you and your family enjoy doing together?

Our family of 5 loves exploring God’s incredible creation in our new home in the PNW! We get out to hike, explore and camp as much as we can, and are currently plotting our adventures for next season.

Laura DiLeonardi, Founder of Agape Moms

Laura is married to her Bible-college sweetheart of almost 10 years, has three kiddos, and is a self-professed "hotmess rescued by Jesus." Laura's passion is seeing lives continually transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus radically transformed her life in high school, and sent her on a wild ride of loving God and others ever since. Since graduating from Moody Bible Institute with a BA in ministry in 2008, she's been part of various ministries, served in multiple leadership positions, and most recently, took the vision that God gave her for her local Agape Moms and put it into website form. Her mission here is inspiring moms to make disciples as they go about everyday, messy mom-life.

Interview: Living on Mission for Jesus in Everyday, Messy Mom-Life