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Your home is unorganized and, no matter how hard you try, not as clean as you would like it to be. The laundry is piling up and you feel accomplished if you are able to move the clothes to the dryer before the mildew sets in. You have cleaned pee off your floor and wiped more bottoms than you can count today. And as you walk down the hall to break up yet another argument between your children, you wonder what your purpose in all of this is.
Parenting is hard. Whether you are a stay at home mom, a working mom, or a single mother, you know this to be true. Raising children is not for the faint of heart. What does God have to show us through parenting?
How do we get through the daily struggles that are set before us as mothers, while showing the love of Jesus to our children?
As I face the daily exhaustion of motherhood, I have found it helpful to think of my role with the gospel in mind. Not to view my children as little devils whose sole goal in life is to drive me crazy, but as sinners in need of grace and godly instruction in their lives. Remembering that my children are not my own and their purpose is not to bring me joy and happiness, but rather they belong to the Lord and their purpose is to bring glory to His kingdom.
The most important thing I can teach my children is about the character of our loving Father, so when challenges come I view them as an opportunity to show them that character.
A character that is forgiving. A character that is merciful. A character that is patient. I try to use moments of discipline as opportunities to show my children that they are indeed sinners in need of a savior. Instead of just “laying down the law” I remind them why the law exists and how God calls us to obey it.
Please don’t read this and think that I walk around my home, disciplining my children with a gentle, soft voice and a golden halo atop my head. Far from it. I get frustrated. I yell. I scream. I say things I shouldn’t. But I always come back to the cross as a sinner in need of forgiveness- praying for God to give me the strength to give that same forgiveness to my children. At the end of each day, I pray that my children know they are fiercely loved- by their parents and by the God to whom they belong.
In the car the other day, I listened to this song by JJ Weeks Band from the perspective of a mother- praying that her children would see Jesus in her. I pray this for you today as you tackle motherhood with the gospel in mind...now go switch that laundry over.
Take away the melody
Take away the songs I sing
Take away all the lines
And all the songs you let me write
Does the man I am today
Say the words you need to say
Let them see you, In me
Let them hear you, When I speak
Let them feel you, When I sing
Let them see you
Let them see you in me
Who am I without your praise
Another smile, Another face
Another Breath, A Grain of Sand
Passing quickly through your hand
I give my life, An offering
Take it all take everything
Let them see you, In me
Let them hear you, When I speak
Let them feel you, When I sing
Let them see you
Just let them see you in me...
With every breath I breathe
I sing a simple melody
But I pray they'll hear more than a song
In me
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