But this is not what my blog is about! Not at all!
It's about being a Mom after God's own heart and making little choices daily that end with BIG results!
My last post was not about resolutions for the new year but rather is was about things I will not take into 2013. Things I can change in our lives for the better. And I intend, with only God's grace and help, to live up to this vow.
I'm reading a book entitled "A Mom after God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. If you haven't read it, you need to! It's so gooooood! Encouraging, uplifting, positive, loving...like you're talking with this lady in the living room. And it has truly given me the inspiration I need to live a life of a Godly parent and a thumbs up for all the things I've already been doing!
My boys are little- but they are sponges. I am embarrassed to say that I have heard Charlie say things I have said before...no, convicted. Not that I say curse words, because I don't, but just little ugly things. Like, jerk, stinkin', freakin'...ugh. Bearing my heart and soul here...it's unpleasant to type even! But this is fact, and I need to see how my words affect my children. Charlie heard me say those things!!!!! Do you know how awful I feel?!
So, with God's help, from here on out, I am only talking of good things- God's things.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 commands us to hide God's word in our hearts, Mom. To bind them on our doorposts if necessary- to hang them about our necks- to talk about God while we sit, lay down, walk in the way...every aspect of our lives must be focused on God and Him alone!
I do start the day off with coffee and my Bible but I admit I could do more. So I got out my beloved Charles Spurgeon devotional and this book I'm reading. I pray over the breakfast, I pray over lunch, pray over dinner, sing songs at bedtime and pray again. During the day I go over Charlie's Cubbie verses and sometimes get out our children's Bible and read it or play their children's CD and we sing along. I try to remember to ask Charlie what he learned in Sunday School and see if he remembers. I even read Proverbs out loud just so they can hear it, even if they don't understand it. I want God's Word to be something they've always known, heard and lived with!
I want them to know God. I want them to love God. I want both of my boys to learn about how wonderful our God is!!!
So, when we set the table I'm going to talk with them about how God will always provide for us and meet our needs. I'll talk about how God is preparing a table for us in Heaven to eat with Him someday!! Or if there's a rainbow in the sky I'll talk about the promises of God and how only God can create a rainbow, or snow, or animals! There is so much to teach them and I want them to see that they have a Mommy and a Daddy after GOD's heart!!! That we depend on our God to provide, keep our health, protection, and that we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother- an advocate for us, and that He loved us and died for us!
It is the calling of every parent to teach their children about God. It's a commandment. It's what we are to keep if we love God! Right? How important is that to you?
We have a million and one things to do in a day- there's so much to be mutli-tasked and crossed off the list- but most important- no most critical of all is to target our children's hearts. If we don't, we know who is!! Somewhere in the midst of all that stuff to do, we have to introduce our children to Jesus. You know, we can't save them. Only He can. We have to teach them every hour so that they will be strong and not sifted as wheat. So that one day, they can walk that isle, or tug on our shirt and say,"Mommy...Daddy...I don't want to go to Hell...I want to be saved..." and we can SHOUT with joyous victory and with tear filled eyes lead our precious babies to the thrown of the One who lived to die for them! And know that their names are forever written down, never to be erased and the enemy cannot take their soul. THAT'S what I long for in this life! If I never own a house, or have a million dollars or albums full of adventures of this world but all of my children are saved by God's sweet grace- I will die with my purpose fulfilled. And I will have no regrets.
Hey parent- let me remind you what the Bible compares our children to. Arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior. Arrows not to be kept in the bag but shot out with a specific target. We can't keep our children- they must fly on their own one day. Where is your target for them? Is it at the foot of the cross where they can first be saved and then build faithful, Godly lives of their own? Or is it at a basketball court, or a football field? School plays? Pep rallies? Is it at that Ivy League college or that scholarship? I'm not saying these goals or activities are bad, they're just not vital. They're not what God has for our children. It's what the world has. And you know what? It's got no eternal value. It's just wood. Hay. Stubble.
There is so much more to living a life focused on the Savior. How I love Him and how I want to please Him. I fail so many times. I am no where near where He wants me to be- but I'll not give up! I know that I will not faint in well doing and that God can give me the strength I need to do the things I need to do and also to teach my children the things of Him. And I'll pray for my children every day and give them back to Him.
And one more thing Moms, if you have a husband that is a believer, you better count yourself blessed beyond measure! He is a rare breed! Be sure to thank your husbands!! Ask your husband what's being done, not done and what could be done better. It's mainly our responsibility to handle the childcare and it's important to get feedback on how we're doing! If he gives you some negative criticism, great! You have something to work on that will one day be positive and a great improvement! Respond positively! He's trying to help you! Then pray and ask God for help. We have very important jobs Moms! Let's do it with our whole heart and follow after God!
Read Job 1:4-5 with your husband. I haven't got to do this yet but I plan to. Together we will make a covenant to pray for our boys and the child in my womb. For the glory of God!
May God give you the desire, strength and discipline to hang His word about your neck so that you can lovingly share Him with your children and live out Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and be a Mom after God's own heart!
