Tag Archives: motherhood

The Lord Fulfills my Purpose

Recently a woman asked me, what fills up your days? Sitting next to my 4 year old daughter, I looked down at her, then back at the woman. I replied, “parks, play dates, preschool and… play dough” (priceless). In giving her an accurate answer those 4 P’s just came out so naturally. It’s truly what fills up my days. But not everyday truly feels fulfilling…

I caught myself daydreaming of the “other work” I could be doing rather than watching my daughter. Assuming “other work” might be “more important” than staying at home. I knew these weren’t Godly thoughts because its He who fulfills my purpose in motherhood. So I quickly googled: “Christian mom quotes” (internet perks), I needed a perspective change and stat!

Here are some quotes I found encouraging:

Motherhood is a million little moments that God weaves together with grace, redemption, laughter, tears, and most of all, love.
– Lysa TerKeurst

Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God might not be something you do, but someone you raise.
-Andy Stanley

You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God’s fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts.
-Charles Spurgeon

The Christian mom doesn’t love Jesus instead of loving her children; she loves Jesus by loving her children.
-Jen Wilkin

“Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.”
– C. S. Lewis

Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.
-Billy Graham

Christ-Centered Mama – Motherhood for the Glory of God

My Daughter’s schedule fills up my days, but its the Lord who fulfills my purpose.

These quotes changed my perspective on how God sees me as a mother rather than how I see me. His grace pulls me out of the self-pity and into a willingness to be a self-less servant. For scripture says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you….” Isaiah 66:13. God does not leave us alone when we comfort our children, he’s here for our comfort too. I feel that every time I turn to him.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for reminding me that motherhood is important work. To help me realize that truth you call me to spend time with you to refuel my motherhood energy. You help me to re-centre, re-focus and remember WHO I am is found in you. Especially, who I am as a mother and the purposeful work that it is. Lord, open up windows of “me-time” that refuel my energy so I can remain thankful and present with my child. Amen.

What About You?

How can God uplift you today and remind you that your role as a mother is important and fulfilling? How might he show you ways to give you energy to live that out? I learned that the Lord fulfills my days by seeking him in all I do. Regardless if its 5 sick days stuck at home or 5 vacation days exploring new experiences. God is in the center of all my days. He is what fulfills my purpose because he fulfills his promise. He promises to never leave us or forsake us, (Deuteronomy 31:8). SO, I come to him with all my needs, desires, wants and complains. He refreshes my soul with his never ending grace.

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

Blessings.

Heavenly Father

Heavenly Father

I see God working in lives of sinners all through scripture. His kindness and mercy never seem to cease. God takes the time to direct and correct out of His love for us. This kind of love sent Jesus Christ to die as a sacrifice for our sin (John 3:16). Giving us a pathway directly to God like children we can come to Him as our Heavenly Father. A Father who says, “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

As a Mother

As a mother, I have understood more about God as my Heavenly Father. I can understand why we are His adopted children and not just His to “use”. He wants to lead us, guide us and more importantly LOVE us by telling us we are HIS (Galatians 3:26). Not some robots he wants to control and manipulate in doing His will. As a mother I cannot control my child, I instruct, discipline and love her. God is teaching me to give my daughter the grace she needs, like He does for me. Just like a toddler who tantrums, I too can feel out-of-control in front of God. Yet, in my affliction and tantrum the Lord wants me to come to Him. The Lord always wants us to come to Him as he is our Heavenly Father.

Come to your Heavenly Father

My daughter is three years old. I always try to help her throughout her troubles by stretching out my arms and saying, “come”. I never stop loving and caring for her. The best part is when my daughter does come, snotty and teary, she can trust to fall into my arms. Even when she knows she has done wrong, she needs her mom. I want to have that same love and admiration for my Heavenly Father. Where I am not ashamed to come to Him with my sin. I need Him, He knows that and with arms wide open He says, “come”. This is what God does for us as our Heavenly Father, except he is not flawed as a parent like I am. No, He is perfect, kind and merciful. The more I learn about the character of God the more I come to Him as His daughter.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

1 John 3:1

Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come to you in my sin, in my joy, in my troubles and ask you to create in me a clean heart (Psalm 51:10). So I can confess my sin and grow in likeness of you. Help me to come to you even when I’m ashamed to. Thank-you Lord that you see me and know me better than I know myself. Teach me to come to you even when I don’t want or understand to.

Amen.

Overwhelmed by God’s Grace

Moving provinces has its excitement and its tough transitions. It can be tough navigating a new routine in a new city whilst making new friends. That alone can be overwhelming. For me, the most challenging part was navigating it all alongside the needs of my newly turned 3 year old daughter. In midst of a big change I became overwhelmed in motherhood and I needed to be overwhelmed by God’s grace.

Overwhelmed in Motherhood

I started to focus more on the needs of my daughter and less on my own. The pressure of making sure she was OKAY definitely made me NOT okay. Repeating the phrase, “I am not okay” to my husband. Like any big move, it affects everyone involved and he too had his own set of transitions to work through.

Attending to the every need of my daughter left me exhausted to find time for myself. Mentally, spiritually and emotionally I needed a change – a shift, a refreshment – something! How? Through vulnerability and the grace of God.

Overwhelmed by God’s Grace

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

First, I attended a church event solo and had a pastor pray over me. As the pastor asked what I needed prayer for, I couldn’t get the words out, I just started to cry uncontrollably. All I managed to say was, “motherhood”. Clearly there had been feelings I hadn’t yet processed – overwhelming feelings. There I was, new to the church, vulnerably balling my eyes out, asking for prayer. Asking for help through her prayer to receive God’s grace.

Next, I got involved in a mom’s group at church. At the end of each session there is time of prayer. Again, tears rolling down (into my mask (“the tear catcher”, I called it) I opened up with my struggles and received prayer.

Slowly by slowly, I stayed open to God’s grace, making time to receive prayer. I continued to seek God through the love and support of fellow believers.

The Final Shift of Faith

Third example of staying vulnerable and open to God, I asked a friend over the phone to pray for me. Just like the church event, and the mom’s group, I could not speak without tears. I shared my stresses and I shared my struggles. She prayed over me. Over the phone, the Spirit of the Lord used her to bless me. Her prayer was authentic, heartfelt and filled with the presence of God as she began to tear up herself, talking about God’s grace and faithfulness. Something spiritually in me shifted. I kid you not – it was the final shift of faith I needed to focus my heart back unto the Lord.

Be open to receive God’s Grace

Jesus is the hope we look for in all circumstances – in every pain and in every praise there He remains. I encourage you to align yourselves with fellow Godly friends. People in your life you can go to in times of need or refreshment. It is truly life giving. We all have our moments, seasons and times where we cannot grasp the hope ourselves, we need a friend to grasp it for us.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus

Philippians 2:4-5

Poem and a prayer

Lord, turn my pain into praise,
sorrow into smiles,
united to friends who care.

Fill us up, to pour us out,
To love like you love,
United in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Body Image in Motherhood

Oh the ever changing moves and grooves of our bodies. While child bearing, post bearing, and years later eating-toddler-snacks-to-get-through-the-day bearing. Body image in motherhood is hard to accept at times. The problem is when we focus on our image apart from God.

Where it all started

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…

Genesis 3:1-6

Satan wants you to desire anything more than God and His Word.

Let’s unpack this. First, the serpent (Satan) lies to Eve, falsely repeating what God said. So eve corrects Him with what God actually said (v3). But Satan persisted to lie more. He convincingly tells her she won’t die and basically God’s withholding “his best fruit” from her. Thus, manipulating her focus away from God and unto herself. Eve knew God and knew what He said. However, the ideal of “what could be” became more desirable than what God said is.

Your image or God’s?

While we are negatively viewing our bodies, we are leaving God out of the equation. Desiring “what could be” rather than looking to God for “what is”. What is: Godly body image?

God created us unique and different on purpose with purpose. So He knows what’s best for us. Especially when it comes to taking care of our image. Our bodies were meant to change. To give birth, to give nourishment, to offer support and to love with great capacity. Our bodies not only take care of ourselves, but it creates energy and strength to take care of others too. God made us, so he holds the manual for what is good for us. How we view our body must reflect our love for our creator.

Our bodies are living sacrifices

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

We offer our bodies as living sacrifices because Jesus did first. Thank goodness he stepped in our place of receiving God’s wrath for our sin. Praise God for His knowing of what is good and evil for us. Praise God that He is more interested in the state of our hearts than how we look! Finally, praise God for loving us despite our failures and imperfections.

Our bodies – whatever stage they are in, have great value and purpose because as Christians we bare the image of God. Focus on that and leave the bathroom selifie, #summerabs to someone else.

Prayer

Dear God, please forgive me for assuming I know what’s best for my body image. Help me to take care of body from your perspective. This way I can learn to better love myself and the people around me. Amen.

Simply and Always Remember to PRAY

I’m a sucker for a good product. Especially anything that helps my baby/toddler to sleep! Who doesn’t love a good nights rest? So, I have all the machines – white noise, lullaby music, grow clock, sleep sack, stuffies, blankies… and don’t get me wrong, they work great! Until they don’t. It’s this: “until they don’t” that gets me all worked up. What? My child NEEDS ME? In the middle of the night?! What about these MACHINES?! Gimmicks. Nothing but eye-catching gimmicks that if she didn’t have them – I’m sure she’d sleep just fine. If not, the exact same. She falls asleep on her own – that’s all you want as a parent. Sometimes I rely so much on the MACHINES to do “their job” that I forget to do mine – pray.

God knows best.

To pray and ask God about what my child needs and who SHE is. Every mother, has a different birth story – no birth story is the same. Just like every person is different and no person is the same. I love mom blogs and resources that help me parent well. I love books, tips and tricks – of course! The conviction for me comes when I rely more on the gimmicks than Jesus to teach me how to parent.

Remember to Pray…

Dear Jesus,

Not only do you know my daughter, but you created her, and loved her before I did. Thank you for the gift of bringing her as my own and allowing her to call me “mommy”. What a treasure that already is to being someone’s mother. Forgive me Lord, for I have put my trust in gimmicks more than in your wisdom to teach me. To teach me about my daughter, her needs and her character. I pray that you would help me become a gracious, loving and wise mother to this specific little person; whom I call my daughter.

Thank you for your wisdom.
Amen.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there who sacrifice their time, their schedules, their bodies, their mind and heart to the little (or older) ones they serve. Your behind the scene efforts make the production of your family run smooth and its a beautiful sight to see. Although you don’t get much of the credit, today is a day devoted to acknowledging that amazing effort!

A mom may not be the one on stage, but she’s definitely running the show backstage. She’s the back stage manager, the costume designer, the make-up artist, the script writer, the marketing specialist and production crew… yes the whole crew. Yes, that’s motherhood – all the behind the scene work so their family, their children, can shine on stage! Today, we welcome you on stage and applaud you for your continuous effort of servant hood and sacrifice. Although some days (most days) you feel like all you can do is survive, its still enough to make your children thrive. Each bit of love you give makes a difference.

We love and appreciate all you do. Thank-you for being YOU!