MOTHER QUOTE

“Increasingly, I find that women are unsure about what it means to be a good mother. They are confused by a culture that send them drastically mixed messages about the importance of a mother’s influence and whet her priorities should be. As a result, so many mothers I meet are baffled and frustrated. They don’t know how to reconcile these conflicting messages with the calling of God on their hearts and lives.

What’s the cure for this confusion? I believe it lies with a rediscovery of the traditional mission of motherhood, a rediscovery of what God had in mind when he designed families. And the fundamental mission of motherhood now is the same as it always was: to nurture, protect, and instruct children, to create a home environment that enables them to learn and grow, to help them develop a heart for God and His purposes, and to send them out into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully. It’s up to us to embrace that mission as our own, trusting God to walk us through the details and to use our willing mothers’ hands as instruments of his blessings.”

~Sally Clarkson, The Mission of Motherhood

God's Kids

 

This picture has nothing to do with this post.  I just thought it was fun!  Such cuties.  

The more and more I think about what it is to be a mom the more and more I find out that it's nothing like what I first thought it should be.  I mean, it is exactly what I thought it was but it's so much MORE than that.  Examples… I have some!  

I thought that these were MY children.  That once I gave birth to them I got to shape them and mold them into who I wanted them to be.  I thought that I got to be the one to decide how they were disciplined, and teach them right from wrong.  

The truth is that these thoughts have truth to them.  But they aren't exact or complete.  My kids, as I've come to realize, were never mine.  I was never the one that was supposed to decide what they were to do with their lives.  God had on his mind what these girls were going to do with their lives.   (Romans 8:30 "Morevoer whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.") 

He CREATED my girls.  He made them with the EXACT personalities that they were supposed to have.  He made them and WHO HE MADE THEM TO BE I'm not supposed to change.  That means that my job with my girls (yes I still can say "my girls" because He's entrusted my husband and I with these precious girls while we're on this earth) is to direct them, teach them how to hear the voice of the Lord.  It's not so much to keep them "in line" but to teach them how to be dependent on Him.  When they know how to do that, they will have EVERY answer to life's questions. 

We were reading a book today in school that is called "Hero Tales".  It is a collection of writings about a bunch of different people, Godly people.  People who put their faith in the Lord.  Today we read about George Muller.  He is amazing to me.  He started an orphanage and one day they didn't have any food.  He got all the kids up to the table to eat breakfast and then began to pray… he prayed and thanked God for the food that they were going to eat that day.  A knock came at the door, fresh bread.  Another knock, fresh milk.  WOW!!!  What faith.  One of the things that struck me the most about this man and his family when we read was that he didn't ask people for anything.  He COMPLETELY relied on the Lord.  Whenever there was a need he would ask God to fill that need.  Whenever his family needed money, He'd ask the Lord not a person.  Whenever he saw a homeless person or someone in need he gave ALL that he had, knowing that God would provide for his family.  When someone tried to start a fund for him he graciously declined because he didn't want to be reliant on a bank account, he wanted to rely on the Lord.  SO AMAZING!!!  So different than how I think about things.

So back to my girls… I need to trust God with their EVERYTHING.  I'm going to try not to screw up but when I do, because I will, I need to trust that God is going to use that!  I need to do my part and apologize and teach them by example how to make things right, but know without a shadow of a doubt that God already has a BIG plan for them.  That the enemy CANNOT thwart what God is going to do in their lives.  Thank you God!!  There will be times of correction and discipline.  There will be times that we need to teach our kids right and wrong.  There will be times that we need to teach them how to be obedient and how to listen and how to talk.  Doing those things is not wrong.  I have just come to realize that there is MORE.  Teaching them how to listen to the voice of the Lord is the MOST important thing.  When they leave my home they will not always call me, they will not always be able to get a hold of me.  They won't always have me to fall back on, I will someday not be here anymore.  But God will be.  They will always be able to fall into His arms.  They will ALWAYS be able to call on Him.  They will ALWAYS be able to get a hold of Him!  That's who He is.  That's what He's promised.

So next time you and I want to beat ourselves up for making a dumb parenting decision, we need to remember that these kids of ours are really GOD'S.  He's got them!  Our dumb decisions followed by a wise, Godly decision, helps our kids learn.  He set them in our families for a reason.  He knew that YOU would be your kid's parents.  My girls will be strong! I should take extra care to treat them as such.  Princes and Princesses of the ALMIGHTY KING!  With this, as I tell my girls, comes a special responsibility, which I won't get into now or this will be really long!  Until next time…. Bye!