Good Monday to all my fellow Mommies on a Mission! I hope you are ready to continue the detective work we started last week comparing mommyhood to being a missionary! To refresh our mommy brains, clue #1 was "Missionary Training".

So without delay, let's suit up in our Fedoras and trench coats! No super-geeky high-tech gadgets needed today because today's clue is blatantly obvious to the naked eye!

Clue #2: Travel to a Foreign Land & Immersion into the Local Culture

Once our precious bundles were birthed, we most DEFINITELY traveled to a foreign land and found ourselves immersed in the local culture! Not convinced? Let's examine the evidence, shall we?

• Erratic sleep patterns

• Feedings every two hours

• Changing diapers

• Sheer & utter exhaustion

• Deciphering the meaning of the baby's cries

• Deciding when to introduce solid food

• Keeping calm while deciding if it was too soon to call the pediatrician AGAIN

• The gut-wrenching, heart-twisting love unlike any other you've felt toward another human being

In addition, do I really need to remind you of the baby toys, diapers, pack-n-play, feeding equipment, onesies, diapers, bibs, burp cloths, blankets, pacifiers, diapers and, oh yes, the diapers?

Have you forgotten chatting with other moms about milestones achieved, planning play dates and knowing the difference between Handy Manny and Bob the Builder and actually CARING?

Admit it, we drank the Kool-Aid!

Tell me, were these common everyday things to you before you had your first child or were they foreign to you? To most, becoming a mommy was as foreign as the tiniest remote island in the Pacific Ocean (or am I the only one?)!

Missionaries are sent to some of the most foreign places in the world and have to adapt to everything from a different time zone (ie. different sleep patterns), different foods & methods of meal preparation (pea puree and bottle sterilizer, anyone?), different language (who besides a baby could understand "mommomtinksusobootifulyesserdoes") and different customs (life no longer revolves around YOUR plans).

From the evidence, it appears that Clue #2 supports the theory that being a mommy is like being a missionary. However, we have more evidence and clues to investigate. Join me next week as we take a close look at Clue #3 - Bringing the Gospel to an Unreached People.

When you became a mommy, what convinced you that life would never be the same?

Share with us!