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Mission of Motherhood: Chapter 1

By on September 8, 2008 in building the family, faith & womanhood

Today we begin discussing our book study on The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. It is not too late to join in!

What rich encouragement this book has been providing me with in my pursuit of establishing a godly legacy!

I loved this quote from the first chapter:

“God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role. We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children. Through our teaching and influence, morality can be learned and modeled, love and kindness are taught and received, purpose and vision are ignited and passed on. The real ability of a mother to secure such a spiritual legacy is based on the strength of her relationship with her child.“

That just excites my spirit! What an amazing task lies before me. Motherhood is a means of glorifying God as we seek to give ourselves to our primary mission field. It is a journey like no other!

Here are some thoughts from the application section at the end of the chapter. I love how she draws me again and again to the Word of God and the ultimate truth on this topic.

Psalms 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Sally shares that in the Old Testament, the word house often implied the same concept of the English words family or home. This struck me powerfully. Unless I fully rely upon the Lord to build, strengthen and establish our family, all my efforts will be in vain. I could have a perfectly managed family and yet still be a waste because Christ Jesus is not the center and source of all things. It’s not about me in the first place…it’s not about having the perfect training techniques, books or knowledge on hand. It’s about acknowledging my dependence upon the Lord and taking steps of faith with each investment into their lives…praying every step of the way that He would build my house and my family – for they are His first and foremost!

1 Thess. 2:7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

The heart attitude of this mother is that she is tenderly loving and caring for the needs of her child. She is not consumed with her own needs, plans, to-do’s, but she first focuses on graciously, compassionately nuturing her children. My prayer is that the Lord would change my hard heart. I don’t want my child to be a burden because my plans are on the throne. I want to have fresh vision to see each denial of self to be a means of nuturing her soul into the Kingdom of heaven. My focus has been more often on ministry to others. when my first primary ministry is to my husband and child.

What stood out to you in this first chapter? Please feel free to share a quote, a prayer, or anything that the Lord has been challenging you with thus far.

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What are you producing?

By on September 3, 2008 in building the family, making a home

“Busyness is not godliness. God is not impressed with your production capacity as much as He is concerned that the product of your home – your own children – be chiseled and molded and perfected to the best of your ability. You may tire of this mundane task, but the Lord admonishes you not to grow weary and promises to supply the energy and strength as needed in this all-important task (Isa. 40:28-31). God’s strength is for what He plans for you to do – not stamina for everything you might want to do!”

~Dorothy Patterson, Handbook for Ministers’ Wives

Painting from allposters.com
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Book Study: Mission of Motherhood

By on August 18, 2008 in building the family, faith & womanhood

I have been diving into The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson lately with great enthusiasm and excitement as my heart is stirred with a greater passion and vision to be a godly and nurturing mother for my little ones. I have such a short coming by getting caught up in my daily schedule and to-do’s and loss sight of the short time given to me to invest in my child’s heart for eternity. I don’t want these precious moments to be wasted because the world around me minimizes the importance of a mother’s role. Little do they know what an important task God has called me to in leading a peaceful nurturing home, where Christ is the center of it all.

“God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role. We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children. Through our teaching and influence, morality can be learned and modeled, love and kindness are taught and received, purpose and vision are ignited and passed on.

” I have come to picture the heart of each child as a treasure chest. Each chest is empty and needs to be filled with the riches of unconditional love, spiritual nurture, and the emotional heritage of family and traditions; with mental stimulation that comes from excellent sources of truth, morality, and inspiration; with a sense of physical and emotional security; and with the guidelines for all of life, including purpose, relationships, and proper behavior.”

Oh, I pray that God would ignite this vision in my heart and equip me with His truth that I might passionately live this out in my home. Do you desire to be equipped for this high and holy calling? Do you care to join me in this read? I felt prompted that this was a good title to use for our second online book study. I will be sharing brief quotes and/or how the Lord is speaking into my life as I read and post these thoughts on a weekly basic (highlighting one chapter a week), and you are welcome to join me in sharing your thoughts as well.

Order your copy today and please let me know if you would like to join me!

We will be starting chapter 1 on September 1st and with twelve chapters, this book should keep us busy till the middle of November.

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Serving vs. Enjoying Our Families

By on June 24, 2008 in building the family, making a home

Enjoying my little girl

I was reading the story of Mary & Martha to Karis the other day, when I struck by the fact that Martha was caught up in serving and preparing the evening meal, whereas Mary was simply enjoying the fellowship of Jesus and the other disciples who may have been there. Martha was doing an important task, and likewise we as wives and mothers have the important role of managing our households and serving our families, three meals a day, washing laundry, cleaning house, taking care of needs, etc.

But have we ever considered how we can so easily get too consumed with the serving aspects and lose out on the enjoying side? How often do I think of simply sitting down and enjoying my daughter for a momemt…more frequently I have another thing that needs to be done. How often do I take the time to enjoy my husband in the evening after work instead of getting consumed with making sure my kitchen is perfectly cleaned after dinner?

Look at the Titus 2 order of priorities- love your husbands, love your children, then be workers at home! Carolyn Mahaney says: “The word for love used in Titus 2 is phileo. This word describes the love between very close friends. It is a tender, affectionate, passionate kind of love.  It emphasizes enjoyment and respect in a relationship.” Often times we get so busy serving our husbands and children that we overlook enjoying them! This layout of priorities also emphasizes the importance that our husbands be our first priority! That means Karis is second to the needs of my husband.

I am so thankful that God has been opening my eyes to the importance of enjoying my husband and child. Karis is growing fast, and this season will be short! Leave the household maintenance stuff to the nap times, and spend time enjoying her during her awake times!

That is what I am thankful for this week! Thankful that God provides the grace necessary to let some things go in order to invest in the most important relationships.

Thank you to Laura for hosting Gratituesday, a simple reminder for me to reflect on what I am thankful for this week!
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Simplifying by Slowing Down

By on June 11, 2008 in building the family, frugal & simple, making a home

Welcome back for the continuation on our series discussing the importance and how-to’s of simplifying your lives in order to be better fit for the Lord’s use. So far we have talked about the reason for it all, living simply in order to give generously of our time and resources, simplifying by communing, & planning. Now let’s discuss the important truth of just slowing down.

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you…” (1 Thess. 4:11)

Why does it seem that life is just a mad rush from one event to another? From soccer practice to music lessons, from school to church. You ask “how’s it going?” and the continual reply is: “I am so busy! I don’t have any extra time.” Does that sound familiar?

But we keep choosing busy! We choose it because in this Western world busyness equals success. The more in our dayplanner the greater our importance. Busyness not only wears us down, weaken our relationships, and vaporizes our time; it verges on idol worship. Who is the idol? ME! Do we realize that the root of this busyness might just be an obsession with “me”! Do I think that my efforts and actions will sustain my family and the world around me? Do I imagine it will all fail if I don’t complete this or that?

Are the priorities in the right place? The question begs to be asked, are we missing out on something?

Slowing down takes work, but it is possible and very worth it!

The goal in simplifying your life is to give you more time for the quality activities, for the investment in family and in ministry together towards others! If we aren’t seeing or talking to each other as a family, something must go. If we don’t have time to serve a friend with a meal because we are running around finding all the good sales, maybe we should re-evaluate what truly are our priorities?

This is the boat I was in and must continually be on the alert for those signs of the “busyness idol” creeping in (stressed, overwhelmed, relationships suffering, etc)…this is my weakness, and I have fallen into the trap many times. Here are a few lessons we have learned in the process of learning how to slow down…We are far from perfect, but God’s grace is guiding us as we seek to follow in His purposes.

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The True Woman: Chapter 10 – Submission

By on June 9, 2008 in building the family, faith & womanhood

Thank you to Marliss Bombardier once again for providing us with the recap of the final chapter of our book study of The True Woman by Susan Hunt.

Submission, as Susan Hunt says, is “the defining virtue of the defining virtues” of the true woman. I would say that it is the defining virtue of any woman, whether a true woman who seeks to develop the virtues of piety, purity, domesticity, and submission, or a new woman who is primarily interested in making sure her rights and desires are respected and fulfilled.

What is Submission?

“Submission, whether it is to God, to one another, to husbands, or to male leadership in the Church, is a grace-empowered virtue of humility and reverence for God. It has nothing to do with superior/inferior status or equality. It has to do with attitude and function. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in being and in power, but each has a different function.” pg. 206

Biblical submission is not subjection, nor passive subservience, but neither is it an evangelical feminist ideal of muddled gender roles that ejects men from their unique leadership roles in marriage and the church. It cannot be put in a neat, legalistic little box of specific behaviors or lifestyles. It can and will be different depending on the situation and relationship involved. It boils down to a matter of attitude-joyful and willing submission to the God-ordained authorities in one’s life; and of character-piety and humility.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

By on May 11, 2008 in building the family

I wish to express a blessed and happy mother’s day to all my fellow mothers out there! Keep up the wonderful work in laying your life down in service to your family! You are to be highly praised for persevering through it all! What a privilege to be bestowed with gifts of life to nurture and raise, love and train, counsel and guide, with the chief goal of pointing them to Christ!

“I regard no man as poor who has a godly mother.” - Abraham Lincoln

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” –Washington Irving

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In Honor of My Mother

By on May 10, 2008 in building the family

In honor of this lovely Mother’s Day 2008, I would like to honor my godly mother!

Dear Mother,

What a treasure it has been it be raised by such a godly courageous woman! You have never ceased to amaze me in all the roles and responsibilities you filled in managing our home, taking care of all eight of us children, serving as a helpmate to daddy, and the list goes on. You have been such a beautiful role model to me, and the character of a meek and quiet spirit radiates through your life.

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A Great Task

By on May 1, 2008 in building the family, making a home

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along not by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker…”

~Helen Keller

This quote has brought great encouragement to me when I have been overwhelmed by feeling like cleaning, cooking, taking care of my little one are insignificant. Each humble task is so important if done with a heart that views it as a great and noble task!

While at a gathering at our church last time discussing the topic of parenting, this thought was shared:

The greatest thing you may ever do is to raise your children and to include them in your lives!

How full of truth that is! Of all the important things we may accomplish in this life, raising our children to love the Lord and include them in serving the Lord together with us, is a high calling, and one not to be taken lightly or passed off to the “professionals”!

Blessings upon you as you view the humble tasks as glorious whatever season of your life!

Image from allposters.com
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Undistracted Devotion – What’s Your Gift?

By on April 24, 2008 in building the family, faith & womanhood

God has given every one a gift…Despite the fact that you may feel like you have no talents or gifting, God has indeed bestowed a gift upon you. Did you then realize that it is designed to be used for the building up of His Church and service of others? Indeed, we are called and responsible to return this gift to Him in sacrificial service for the furtherance of His glory. You are His hands and feet! In this laying down of our gifts and talents at His feet, we will find the greatest joy – in service to Him!

This is part 3 of our series on Undistracted Devotion: how to live sacrificially for the Lord whatever your season of life. Read part 1 where we presented the call, and part 2 – we discussed contentment, living at home (specifically for singles), and realizing that service will be a sacrifice.

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