Devotion #6- Mommy Mission

"For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1Thessalonians 2:11-12

 

This past Sunday at my church a young teenager placed his ultimate trust in Christ and got baptized. I worked with him last summer during vacation Bible school where he had stood out as a leader and I had enjoyed watching his interactions with the preschoolers. I spotted both of his parents eagerly taking videos as right before our eyes a miracle took place. My vision blurred from tears as my heart filled with emotions. My thoughts turned to my two girls and what a special day it will be when they accept Jesus as Lord of their lives.

 

It occurred to me that this one life changing moment is really an accumulation of small moments throughout a person's life pointing the way to Christ. Small moments but thoughtful moments nonetheless. As a mom it is so easy for me to miss my focus on what really matters in the life of my children in favor of their more immediate needs. I spend time researching the best sippy cups that won't leak and hunt down the shoes that my toddler will actually keep on her feet. I look into the best (and don't forget the cutest!)  labels for their belongings. I find myself researching solutions on how to keep everyone out from under my feet while I'm cooking, and I spend time reading different books on discipline strategies trying to find the most effective one for my little ones.

 

I put such thought into these things that I know I sometimes neglect the one thing that I must be most diligent about and that is making sure my girls know who Jesus is and that their mommy loves him with all her heart so that one day they will choose to do the same. It would be nice to have a checklist of sorts telling us moms what we need to do to make this happen. Matters of the heart aren't so easy though. There is no perfect time to pray nor perfect prayer. There is no perfect children's Bible nor perfect spiritual activity. 

 

Recently, during my personal Bible study time I ran across 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 and felt like God was handing me my spiritual mission statement for mothering my children. It was even broken down into three easy to remember parts: encourage, comfort, and urge. I did some digging into the dictionary and came up with a more complete picture of what these words mean for me as a mom. I am to encourage my children much like a teacher or a coach does by inspiring them and helping them in their relationship with God.  I am to comfort them by strengthening them with a sense of trust and expectancy in their Savior.  Finally, I am to urge my children to live a life worthy of God which will hasten them to action, the ultimate of which is making the decision to live for Christ.

 

This time of the year it is especially easy to get caught up in all of the holiday festivities like Elf on a Shelf  (yes, I finally broke down!) and forget that we should be celebrating a Who (Jesus) and not a what (the holiday event of Christmas).  Hopefully, if we maintain our focus on our mommy mission statement of encouraging, comforting, and urging, we can navigate our children through the holidays knowing that we didn't obstruct their view of Jesus. May God use this holiday season of small moments to one day accumulate into the ultimate in life changing moments for our children.