Join me today at Raising Homemakers, discussing “Raising Women of the Word.” We have been given an important job, for such a time as this.
Our lives are a result of our beliefs–our theology about everything. We make choices based on what we believe about things. Conscious of it or not, our theology comes out our fingertips. It’s a worldview, and contrary to popular opinion, or how much one dislikes that term, everyone does, in fact have a worldview. If you don’t think you have one, that’s part of your very worldview.
One tiny part of a worldview is how we view children. Our idea of their purpose drastically affects the way we live, the way we parent and the choices we make in life.
The modern church has a huge problem with its understanding about the purpose of children.
- The first problem is that most people don’t even question their purpose. They have children because everyone has children. Because it’s the normal thing to do. Normal. We tend to do what’s normal, but normal is allowed to be defined and redefined by the majority.
- Secondly, we assume children are for us. When most couples think about having children, the decisions are largely based on their personal preferences and how children will benefit (or not) them. How much will they cost me? How time-consuming will they be? How much will they change my lifestyle? How much sacrifice will they require? Those questions assume my happiness, my comfort and my efforts as the primary determining factor for if, when and how many children I have.
- Thirdly, we don’t want to admit that children are for us, just in a different way than the aforementioned description. Children change us. They make us more responsible, they call us to sacrifice, they help us see life through purer eyes. Children teach us to be more patient. They do cost us–in every way, and that makes us better. But sometimes that growing and chiseling of our vices hurts. And we tend to avoid pain, which causes us to be dishonest about the real purpose of children.
Children are not given to us so they can win beauty pageants, or because they’re cute. They’re not even to make us happy, though that is a fantastic by-product. Children are given to us as God’s very heritage, to propagate the gospel, to take a vital part in the Great Commission, to be part of the picture of the gospel, as representing the fruitfulness of the Bride and the Groom, to contend with the enemies of the cross.
The purpose of children, ultimately, is to glorify the Creator. And He uses them in all sorts of ways to help us better glorify Him.
She needs to be reminded, to have her vision renewed, to remember what it is she really does all day, every day. She needs to know what to do when motherhood feels too hard because every mother who knows the weight of her work faces those days.
Christian Heritage was gracious enough to let me share one of the live sessions from the recent CH Homeschooling Conference.
I pray you are thoroughly encouraged! And if you are, consider sharing with another mother who could use an encouraging word!
To hear the other encouraging sessions from the conference, check out the 2014 Conference Recordings
And you can also visit my sessions.
R.C. Sproul, Jr., a man I highly respect and whom I consider a friend, (hey, it says so on Facebook), spoke to us, the speakers and staff, on the last night of the Christian Heritage Homeschool conference.
It was so raw and real. For one, he was tired and so were we, and he was speaking from a vulnerable place and we received it there as well.
But the message–oh the message, was so important, even though I will not articulate it nearly as well as he did.
The first generation of homeschoolers, he explained, risked being simply part of a fad that might die out in a few years. But here we are, decades later, going strong. In numbers.
But too many of us have failed to walk by the simple doctrine, “by grace alone, through faith alone.” Not openly, mind you, we would never actually say “I put my faith in…”
But to demonstrate how we often do lean on our own righteousness, he shared the analogy of the story Jesus told, challenging us to search our hearts:
Have we said, “Dear God, Thank you that I am not like other people who don’t homeschool (or don’t watch TV, or don’t wear denim jumpers–(affectionately referring to the once widely-worn homeschool uniform), or” [insert thing])?
No, he said, if we want children who will grow up servants of Christ, who will carry the cross into their generation, who will last–we had better beat our breast, unable to even look up, and cry out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”
The best we can do is to humble ourselves before our children, praising God that He forgives sinners, “of which I am chief.”
May this generation of parents “cast aside every weight and sin which so easily besets us, and run with patience, the race that is set before us.”
I had the privilege of speaking in Washington this weekend, and though I am tired, I am filled. Filled with God’s goodness at the opportunity to meet so many ladies and receive so much encouragement from other sisters in the Lord, realizing though we are separated geographically, there is a sweet unity that spans across time and space. Heaven is going to be amazing!
The following is an excerpt I shared at one of the sessions:
What is it that God has given us to do? What does the Bible say about mission work? Here’s the kind of ministry Jesus talked about that we should be doing:
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Has anybody given a cup of cold water to a little one recently? It doesn’t feel important to you? Jesus said it was important. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
Jesus’ last admonition to us was to wash feet. Well in that culture, where everyone wore sandals, the feet was the dirtiest part of the body. Anybody washed some dirty body parts lately?
And so important was the command to feed the hungry, minister to the sick, and clothe the naked, that Jesus said whoever doesn’t do these things will not enter Heaven. If you are a mother, you are neck-deep in feeding the hungry and ministering to the sick and clothing the naked. Because your children would be hungry, sick and naked without your ministry. He’s given that to you. Why do we think of our children’s needs less important than anyone else’s?
And not only that….
You are discipling the nations—fulfilling the Great Commission every single day. I wonder if we would meet the day with more determination and joy if we remembered that? Maybe we should write that on a piece of paper, hang it up–”I am discipling the nations today.”
When you look into the faces of your little ones, it’s so important that you envision them as men and women. Because that’s the finished product being made day by day, moment by moment.
When there is strife, you have the opportunity to point them to God’s Word to see how to handle it. Something that will dramatically shape the rest of their lives.
When there is sadness and disappointment, you take them there for comfort.
When there is fear, you show them the power of love that overcomes fear.
When there is doubt, you bring them to the One who is faithful and give them His promises.
And even in the absence of any affliction, you teach them day by day that their purpose in life is to glorify the Creator. You show Him to them in Creation, in the gifts He’s given them, in the simplest or most profound discovery.
You demonstrate the gospel each day by your relationship with your husband.
This is your mission field. How could we ever think it was less of a ministry than any other ministry?
Another major problem is that we all fight that part of our flesh that wants to do something important, barely able to comprehend the importance of being faithful in the mundane. We struggle with the sin of pride, wanting to be recognized.
Rachel Jankovic says:
“It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.
There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.
At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. They are your children, they are eternal souls, they are your mission field.”
And…
Another important part of understanding the mission field of motherhood is that it extends beyond your home, quite naturally, and we need to be available for the ministry God puts in our path. Ministry is not something separate from life…it flows out of our lives, and there is a mission field on every side of us.
Our ministry to others will be different in different seasons. In the busiest seasons of motherhood, we may not be able to extend ourselves outward as often as a mother with older children, but we can take cookies to a lonely neighbor, or meals to our neighbors or church family, we can send cards of encouragement, or call a hurting friend. When we invite someone into our home, or maybe offer a kind word to the cashier–all these things are part of our mission field. God doesn’t call us to do extraordinary things, he called us to be extraordinary in the ordinary day–seeing the humble opportunities in front of us and doing them with joy–that is extraordinary.
Sale is now over
When I was in my young adult years, I was practicing and preparing for anything besides how to manage a home and be a mother who raises the next generation and a wife who stands with her husband and advances the gospel through the picture of marriage.
Boy how I wish I had had the incredible resources available to Christian women today! When this year’s Ultimate Homemaking Bundle came up, a friend of mine said she was going to use it as an E-course for her girls. BRILLIANT! For a few bucks (compared to any other type of educational or training resources) you can get a library FULL of all things homemaking.
Browse these few bookshelves below, and remember, this is only a handful of the books in the bundle!
Also, there are $200 worth of free gifts waiting for you with your purchase!
Buy your bundle now! (Only 4 days left)
Note: This is a print only. Frame is not included.
As For Me & My House
Unless the Lord Build the House
Warrior Mom
Proverbs Woman
Extraordinary
Love
Motherhood
Living Beautifully
This Sunday marks the 3rd anniversary of the awful day in our lives wherein friends and neighbors were killed, and our world turned upside down, never to be the same, due to a mammoth-sized, record-breaking tornado.
For old readers, you walked with us through those difficult months and I love you for it.
This week, while I am preparing/traveling/speaking at the Christian Heritage Conference and unable to write, I’m preparing, ahead of time, this brief memorial and the links to our story as I chronicled it. I love so much going back and reading the comments on those posts. I love that they are here, forever, for me to read and cherish.
And on this third year, I can say that we are continually so grateful for all the Lord taught us and did for us through that tragedy, and how He continues to grow us. I never knew it would take so long to acclimate to a new life, and even still, I sometimes wonder if we’ll ever feel “normal” again. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t talk about “The Storm”, its memory being so indelibly burned into our minds and experience, and its evidence in the landscape still very much a daily reminder.
I am thankful for the lessons of His sovereignty and how learning those lessons brings so much peace. When we can fall into His arms and know that nothing is outside of His omniscient love for us, we can live in confidence, reminding our fears that He is in control.
Whatever storms you might be going through, do not let your heart forget that nothing surprises the Lord, and that in everything, He is working out His plan for your good. We must only obey and trust His promises, and then embrace the peace that passes all understanding.
For those who wish to read the stories of God’s amazing grace, I’ve provided links to the story, chronologically.
God is Mighty to Save…All is Not Lost
Tornado Update April 30 (from Kathy–videos and pictures)
Beauty for Ashes on April 27 Part 1 (The Story)es for Lees and Crawfords
Beauty for Ashes on April 27 Part 2
Beauty for Ashes on April 27 Part 3
Beauty for Ashes on April 27 Conclusion
When Love Looks Like Lumber (First building update)
Update: On Building and Scrap Wood
Update: Six Months After the Storm
“Governments and kingdoms of men have tried to exterminate the Truth, but all have failed. Christianity is a religion of peace and love, but it’s also a warrior’s faith. It isn’t a blanket to hide under, it’s a battle flag to march under. It doesn’t hide us from the pain and suffering that this world has to offer — it commands us to endure it, confront it, and find the beauty in it all.
Easter reminds us that there is an end to the suffering and a purpose in the pain. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He triumphed over evil. And He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”
Read the rest of Matt Walsh’s Hallelujah, Happy Easter.