But I don't think I can do this....

As a parent, I am beginning to believe that our primary purpose is to reflect the character of God in a tangible, physical way they can relate to, so as they learn to personally accept God as their Heavenly Father and Christ as their Savior and King, they have a picture of what that looks like.

I don't think there is any subject I think more about than my role as a mother. I'm the only mother they have and these children were formed inside me. I felt them grow. Thanks to technology, I watched them grow and could hear their beating hearts before they even entered the world. There are many books written on parenting and I actually began to feel oppressed by all the actions I wasn't doing. There was always more time that could have been spent with them. There was always an opportunity to do more for them. Was I teaching them enough? Did I love them enough? Was I instructing them properly for them to become mature Christians with a heart that follows the Lord? Was I protecting them from sex and drugs and countless other temptations that will be presented to them over the years? There was a crushing sense that I could never do enough.

Over the past month, I had listened to two very different speakers talking about child-rearing on two very hot topics. Sex and service. After the sex lecture, I realized my total inadequacy as a parent and wanted to lock my children away for the rest of the world. After the service lecture, I realized my total inadequacy as a parent and wanted to get them out into the world, serving as Christ had served. The only thing I knew for sure was that no matter what the situation, I was totally inadequate.

There is great truth in this. Was Mary ready to mother the Christ? Was Hannah ready to mother Samuel and watch the reign of the kings of Israel begin? God knows we are inadequate. His plan includes our weakness, knowing that His purpose will never be thwarted. (Isaiah 5:1-7, Isaiah 14:27, Isaiah 46:11) Matthew documents the genealogy of Jesus and included are Jacob (who stole his father's blessing), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (a foreigner outside the Israelite people), and Bathsheba (an adulteress). All of us are flawed and yet God is telling a story through His people. The funny thing, is that "His people" often don't look the way we expect them to. Christ Himself was born in a stable to a woman of questionable reputation and dies on the cross between criminals.

So the first question is - why do I feel like it is all on me to do this successfully?
The second question is - do I know what success looks like?

The Word of God can answer both of these questions. The Bible is my source of wisdom and the source of truth. There I find His strength and encouragement and His promise to be faithful. The Bible is also my source to see what God has called me to in motherhood.

Some basic notes: Ephesians 5 and 6 interestingly enough does not have a command to mothers. God commands wives to subject themselves to their husbands, husbands to love their wives, children to honor their mother and father and fathers to not provoke their children to anger. Nothing to mothers. I believe this is because it was said in one sentence. "Wives be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." Then children are told to "obey their parents in the Lord". What is my command as a mother? To give my children an example of honoring and respecting their father. To model obedience to God through submission to my husband. How will they obey and respect their father if I do not? This point is so crucial to family relations, that Collosians 4:18-25 echos the same theme almost verbatim.

When Mary is visited by the angel, her response is "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be unto me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) Her song (or magnificat) again states "the humble state of His bondslave". She doesn't ask for parenting tips for rearing the Lord Most High. She humbly calls herself His bondslave.

Hannah, when she delivers Samuel to the temple as she promised calls him "dedicated to the Lord" (1 Sam 1:28).

Finally, that description of a worthy woman given in Proverbs 31 again shows the role of a woman. It begins with a description of her as a wife, then her industriousness in her household. Then this amazing description is given "Strength and dignity are her clothing and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." (Prov 31:25-26). All that is noted about her children is that they "rise up and bless her".

Who is the mother portrayed in the bible? She is the same as any godly women, whose focus is on the Lord. When we focus on the Lord and emulate Him, we are parenting our children in the way God desires. I don't need to read a million books on child rearing. They may have some helpful tips, but my true book on child rearing is the Bible. My true guide in motherhood and all aspects of life is God's word.

Can I do everything right? Of course not! But I trust in God's faithfulness, knowing that if I am following Him and pursuing Him above all, my children will see it. They will learn from it. They will emulate it. If I can be an example of Christ to my children, while openly leaning on Him for all things, then my children have been taught. If I teach my children God's Word and encourage them to grow in Him, then I have been a successful mom. And if I have the fruit of the Spirit working in my life, then I will be patient, kind, gracious, loving, and good to my children.

How liberating that is to know!

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15