Rachel has her third post on motherhood over at Desiring God, so hustle on over and read it. I am finding her articles to be a great blessing to me, not just because I am her mother, but because what she says about motherhood still applies to me, even though I’m a grandma! This is one called “Motherhood is Application.”
Archive for the 'Mothering' Category
Page 3 of 14
One day when I was feeling particularly like homemaking and child-rearing were exercises in futility, I called my mother-in-law to get a little pep talk. She had married Jim when she was 33 and he was 26, and her first of four children (my husband) was born when she was 34. Before her marriage, she had spent several years on the mission field, and she was a first-rate Bible teacher. So I called her up and told her how I felt that morning: like each day I grabbed my shovel to start moving the pile and by evening it was still there, maybe even higher and bigger.
So I was expecting a nice little word that would cheer me up. I was expecting a little sympathy. But here’s what I got instead. She told me about a missionary who was imprisoned for his faith and hung upside down in a cave. His wife had to bring him food and feed him in that condition. She brought him his books so he could continue to study while he was hanging there. Hmmm. I certainly did not have it that bad, not even on the worst laundry days. You can imagine, that was not what I was expecting to hear. I remember reacting a little bit on the inside. “Oh come on! That’s not relevant to my situation! See if I call you next time I need a little cheering up!”
She also reminded me that I had three in my congregation, three in my little Bible school at home. Now that was a new image Continue reading ‘Heart-tenderizing Words’
I know that it’s tough to see the outcome when you are in the midst of rearing up a handful (or two!) of kids. But when a farmer is planting his fields, he’s got his eye on the harvest. Moms need to be a little bit like farmers. You are sowing and planting a field, and when the kids are little, this is the season that takes a lot of heavy investment of time, attention, and energy. But remember to take the long view. Harvest time is coming, and all this work of planting and weeding and watering will yield a crop.
Since I am a grandmother, that’s easy for me to say. I see the crop. It’s in the barn now! Now my own children are busy in their own fields, and now I’m the one praying for them as they are bringing up their children. Oh, what a serious business it is to raise a family.
Now I can see with my eyes what I had to believe by faith years ago. I want to encourage you many moms out there to look with faith at your children. Trust God to bring a harvest. Your labor is not in vain. He sees it all. All those little things you do for your kids: listening to them and looking them in the eye, rubbing their backs and fixing that ponytail, washing their clothes and changing their diapers, feeding them and teaching them, playing with them and correcting them….all these things are going into an account that you can’t see. But God does!
Take the long view. You’ve got to be patient because it doesn’t happen overnight. Keep your eye on the outcome and trust God to use all your labors to bring about a harvest far greater than you expected. Far greater than any of us deserves.
Chesterton said somewhere (and if I knew which box the book was in, I’d go find it) that boundaries are what make art possible; breaking some boundaries will not make you free. He goes on to say that if the artist decides in his bold creative way to draw a giraffe with a short neck, what he will find is that he is actually not free to draw a giraffe.
The boundaries that we have in life are exactly the same. Have you ever heard someone complaining about all the “rules” of Christianity? As though the ten commandments exist in our lives the same way the obstacles at the dog show exist for show poodles? Are these laws abstract things that God set up just to watch us try to follow? Rules to obey for no particular reason? Something that has been set up for hobbyists and enthusiasts and otherwise unbalanced people? Continue reading ‘Believe it Yourself’
When men gather round and start talking shop, you can bet it’s not about pregnancy and childbirth. But when women have a moment to talk to one another, whether it’s on facebook or actually face to face, that’s often the subject. And I’m not complaining. This is as it should be. We talk about what we are doing, and young moms are having kids, so that’s the biggest topic on their minds.
When the men talk about whether it’s better to drive a Ford or a Chevy, I’m betting that it would be pretty rare for any of the men to get their feelings hurt. But when women are talking about how much weight to gain or whether to use cloth diapers, feelings can be right out there on the line, being crushed by every toe that steps on them.
So here are a couple of cautions for us all. If you are a young mom looking for input on any issue under the huge heading of mothering or childbearing, be wise. Be prepared to receive lots of advice and opinions that you may or may not agree with. Some may even be positively fruity. Don’t take it personally. Don’t take Continue reading ‘Talking Shop’
Desiring God Ministries invited Rachel to be a guest blogger, and I know you will all want to go over there to read this piece she wrote about the most important mission field for moms.
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