Happy Mother's day! I remember when my kids were little, giving up things so that they would have as much as I could possibly give them. There were many lean years as a mother and times when I sacrificed things that my children will never know about (and so I can't tell you about them because they read this blog) Let's just says that a mother gets more joy out of blessing their child than she ever gets from being blessed.
My children are nine years apart in age. One is a girl and one is a boy. They are completely different in many ways, but we all three have one thing in common...our sense of humor. We are all a bit sarcastic ( to say the least). We just get each other. It is awesome. We have our own language...jokes that no one else understands. We have sayings and slang words and expressions that can make us laugh even during the most serious moments.
I am so grateful! God in His goodness has Lauren back home while she earns her Master's degree while Jackson is in high school. I have one last season of late-nite laughter...sit down and share mealtimes and giggling so hard that I cannot see through the tears, laughter that comes from the belly, laughter that throws me onto the floor heaving and gasping for breath (they are REALLY funny!)...I am blessed.
I never would have been able to guess what a special bond I would have with my children. God has given me people to live with whom I admire and am inspired by. I don't just love my kids because they are mine...I love them because they have noble character.
Before I came to Christ I made so many horrible decisions, I know that I gave my own mother more worry and grief than a mother should ever have, and yet God blessed me with children who know and love Him. He spared me the heartache which I had caused and loved me more than I can understand. As a matter of fact, one of the best arguments to prove that God is gracious and not at all like man is that I didn't get the children that I deserved...instead I received children who enrich my life and bless me daily. I was gifted with kids who are obedient to God's ways in a day and age when being a true Christ Follower makes you a definite minority.
I cannot wait to see their lives unfold and watch as these fine young people produce fruit for God's kingdom. I try with every ounce of my being to be an arrow forever pointing them to the only perfect parent; God. I have revealed to them my mistakes and the repercussions that came along with them and tried to make clear how very important it is to guard their hearts. I pray every day, every moment that they will have lives abundant from the riches of Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God blessed me beyond compare when He made me a mother...I am forever grateful for the privilege.
"Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life." - Proverbs 4:23
There is no greater advice that I can give them than to always obey the Lord, to guard themselves from exposure to things of this world, to keep strongholds of the enemy from forming in their hearts. It has taken me 11 years to weed through the thick and destructive thorn bushes in my heart, to pull up roots of rebellion, selfishness and pride. I have spent countless hours pouring out my heart like water before the Lord...begging him to take the thorn from my side. Ironically the thorns that still hindered me all came from my own hand. Every decision that I had made before I came to Christ had been in rebellion to God. The ways of the world had bound me in chains and dysfunction and sealed me off in a pit. God was gracious and long suffering and eventually freed me from despair. As a mother I want to spare my children from the incessant work of cleaning out a heart of the overgrown tangled mess of disobedience. I have given up many things for my children, but the most precious thing that I could ever give them is Jesus.
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