Image credit: lightpoet / 123RF Stock Photo
Moms, I want to encourage you that the next time something happens that is distressing, ask God how He can use the experience to shape you. Shift your perspective. Usually, there is something going on where we can examine our hearts and take a look beyond the surface of the situation and go deeper into our character or motives and understand ourselves a little better. We don’t have to leave our plights or frustrations in the muck and mire. Take the frustration out to a meadow and let it lay in the sun.
Tonight, I did not react well when I was frustrated. Sometimes I wonder why God blessed me with this privilege of motherhood when I see certain traits exhibited in myself that are loathsome. But we have a second chance. And third, and fourth. With God, we get to do do-overs because He gently refines us and never shames us (we shame ourselves, but He does not).
You have a race marked out that is yours and yours alone and it contains the good with the not-so-good. You may share the road with others, but at the end of the day, God still has you on YOUR course, your own special course. What does it look like? Part of persevering sometimes means being stretched and pushed till it hurts. Some of you are dealing with some hard stuff. Your path might be bumpy. Rough. Hard. Fatiguing. As a mom, how might God be wanting to refine your steps today? Is He changing your course? Adding to it? Taking something off of it? What areas of your course might be hindering you, weighing you down? “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1) Is impatience a hindrance in your parenting? Lack of self control? Ask God to show you what is at the root of those parental moments of stress…He will reveal to you what He wants you to see when you humbly take your concerns and regrets to prayer. And then He transforms. For each one of us, that transformation looks different. It might be through a person, a book, a resource, a conversation, an experience, but He does it. He uses what He knows we personally need to get the job done. I hope I can be as good as a parent to my kids as God is to me.
If you are feeling discouraged today, remember that God is doing something wonderful even in the difficult places. And it’s in those difficult places that can often make us look back and say with joy, “God used those rough spots to shape me into something truly better and beautiful.”
Just like your kids aren’t done growing, neither are you. While you are shaping them, God is shaping you.
How is God shaping you in your role as mom?
Beautiful, Linda! How did you know I needed this reminder?!?
Because I needed it too, Kelly!
This really blessed and encouraged me today. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you are part of the community, Shari! We are all in this together and I think, experiencing similar feelings. Have a wonderful, blessed day!
Exactly, Alissa. With God, we are blessed with renewal and second chances daily. Lots of reviewing and revisiting and yes, trying again!
Every day is a “here I go”– love that, Alexis. And placing our jobs in His hands is a big act of trust and dependence. Our BSF teaching leader always says that what God has called you to do He will equip you for…it is so true. The problem is with motherhood, I find, I get equipped along the way and I’d rather He equip me beforehand so I could be better prepared and one step ahead! And it so easy to give way to doubt but when we focus on Him, we focus less on ourselves. All the better to try to do our jobs right…thank you for your encouraging words and insights!
{Melinda} I always say that mothering has shaped my character more than anything else … He has used it to draw me more to Him than I ever could have imagined.
Found you through the MOM Initiative linkup! 🙂
It’s amazing how we get stretched as mothers and become more developed through the process, Mothering From Scratch! To your point, our walk with God certainly grows deeper as a result and how wonderful and rich that that has been your experience. Thanks for stopping by and sharing!