It has been six weeks since we brought home our sweet little Baby #7. We have had our challenges in getting used to the newest addition to our family…but there hasn’t been a challenge big enough to keep me from thinking about how blessed I am to get to do what I do every day. The funny thing is that I haven’t always felt this way…
Early on in my Mothering career I looked for work and babysitters outside my home. I have a college degree and I was well qualified for every job I applied for. Thank God I prayed about it and left it up to God to either open or close doors for me. Needless to say…He closed every door. At the time it was a little frustrating…ok, a lot frustrating…but as I continued to pray about it I knew where God wanted me…in my home.
It wasn’t always easy…it still isn’t always easy…but then God isn’t Glorified in the easy…God is Glorified in the challenges…in the difficultly…and it is in our rising to the occasion…or in our rising out of the ashes :)…that we become a Testimony to the Living God…
2Corinthians 4:8-11…
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
God has taught me some great lessons throughout the years….
Mothering is a Full-time job…it doesn’t stop for a busy schedule, a deep sleep, or a mom in labor with baby #7 :)…a mother is on call 24/7…
Mothering is full of surprises…you have to be able to roll with the punches…or the punches will roll over you….
Mothering is a Long-term investment…what you put into your children isn’t always noticeable right away…but if you are faithful to invest, you will definitely see a return…
Mothering can be messy…there are times when you will wear more spit-up and food than perfume…and times when you will wear more tears than make-up…
That is why…
Mothering has to be Jesus centered…
Mothering is not for the faint-hearted…as emotional as we mothers can get…there are times when we have to hold it together for our children. There have been so many times where my strength of heart has been the foundation of my children’s strength of heart…my Faith and Courage in a tough situation has been my children’s Faith and Courage in that tough situation. Mothering requires an inner strength at times that is only God-given….
Mothering is not for the weak minded….we mothers are the guardians of our homes and our children. We are living in a day and age where our children are being pulled into this world from every direction and it takes a God-given wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment to step in and guide our children along the right path….
Mothering is not for the Spiritually depleted…you cannot get to church with an empty tank of gas…and….you cannot get to God with an empty spirit…don’t fill up after you run out of gas, fill up before and be prepared!! By reading my Bible, and fasting and praying regularly, I am able to go the distance when I need to….
Mothering is a God-given Ministry…it is a calling to sculpt…build…and mold…not just the behaviors…but the minds and the hearts of the children God has entrusted to our care…and the plans and goals for the Masterpiece you are working to create have to be handed down by the Master…
Proverbs 22:6…
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
I thank God for the career He has given me…and for the children He has given me to Mother…