They say it?s hard to know the value of something unless you?ve had to live without it.
If that?s true, I might be an expert on the value of a mother. If you haven?t heard it before, here is my motherhood story.
I know what an amazing impact a mother?s presence (and absence) has on her children. As I often like to say, ?You are a Mom. You?re kind of a big deal.?
You are planting oaks of righteousness that will impact generations to come.
You have been entrusted by the God of all creation to lead His most tender, valuable and vulnerable ones.
You have been given the task of teaching tomorrow?s thought leaders, business owners and world changers.
That is no small thing. To whom much is given, much is required.
Motherhood is powerful, may we be women of purpose.
My husband and I love to travel.
Shortly after we were married, when we were dirt poor, we scrounged together enough money for plane tickets to France. My father-in-law was living there at the time and his whole side of the family is from there. We worked hard, saved hard and planned hard. As a result, for very little money, we were able to tour France, visit Germany and make a lifetime of memories.
A few years later, when we were in the midst of raising babies, I leaned over to Jimmy at church and whispered, ?Let?s go on vacation.?
He leaned back and said, ?Okay???
I replied, ?Today.?
So we went home, put the kids down for a nap, packed, put the littles in the car and headed North. We had great dreams of making it all the way to Nashville, but after 6 hours in the car we stopped in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It was a fun little trip and we?ve since gone back, but the point of this little tale is that we go SO much farther when we plan.
France or Arkansas? Are we mothering by the seat of our pants or are we being planned and purposeful?
Planning doesn?t have to be complex or restricting. It can be as simple as listing 12 areas we want to grow in and working on one each month.
Read books, ask other mothers, attend seminars and scour the earth for every resource you can find on that topic that month. Dive in and incite habit changes in your life.
The next month, go deeper or move on. The point is we must be purposeful and have a plan, however simple, in order to go.
If I want to be a painter, I spend time with a master painter. If I want to be a tennis player, I spend time with a tennis pro. If I want to be a singer, I spend time with a voice instructor.
And if I want to be an expert on my children?s hopes, dreams, needs, fears and faith, then I need to spend time with the One who breathed life into them and knows the very hairs on their head.
Being purposeful is wonderful, plans are powerful, but all of that is secondary to learning from the author of Life.
I love what Katie Davis, a 19 year old prom queen who moved to Uganda and adopted 13 children (!!), says when people ask her how she does it. She says, ?It?s just a little bit of coffee and a WHOLE lot of Jesus.?
Friends, I can?t make my children love God. I do not have a formula for raising obedient, compassionate world changers.
On my own, on our own, we are utterly powerless, but each morning, afternoon, evening and every moment in between we have a direct connection to the Great I Am, the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth, the God of the Impossible.
He makes motherhood possible, purposeful and powerful. He chose you to be a Mom. You?re kind of a big deal?
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