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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking to my daughter at her baby shower. Little Noah is now a couple of weeks old and I’m really loving this new season I find myself in—a season with little ones of my own and a grandma (Mamsi) is truly a special time.
Noah’s birth was a little scary—and ended in an emergency c-section. So began our daughter’s new journey of learning to trust the Lord with her child. It’s never as easy as it sounds, is it?
Just a few days before Noah’s arrival, I spoke about “Faith-Filled Mothering.” The Lord gave me a passage in Matthew that I wanted to share with you. Matthew 14:22.
Something that jumps out at me in the this passage is the fact that Jesus went to get alone by Himself and pray. Don’t you love that? The Lord Himself, God incarnate—prayed. Shortly after that, we read the story of Peter walking out onto the water to Jesus. As soon as the storm grows, his faith falters. Jesus calms the storm and then says to Peter, “You of little faith!” Why did you doubt?”
I think it’s easy for us to find ourselves in the same position that Peter was in. As I was explaining to my daughter at her baby shower, life throws things at you that you cannot possibly expect.
Here are a few things I’ve been learning about how to be a faith-filled mom:
Faith-filled mothering is constrained by love. As mothers, we are preparing our children for a world that we will likely never see. Often, we make decisions that our children do not like—even painful decisions because love tells us that it is the right decision to make.
Faith-filled mothers are dependent on prayer. We read in verse 23 that Jesus got alone to pray. Even the Lord needed to pray. Here was Jesus, physically tired, tempted and alone—yet He took the time to pray to His Father.
Finally, faith-filled mothering is not fear-based. It is not afraid. My grandfather used to say that “fear was present when Jesus was absent, but always absent when Jesus was present.”
Matthew 28:20 says, “I am with you always.” If you want to be a faith filled mother today, anticipate God’s grace and goodness in the lives of your children. Believe His promises for your family. “Train up your children in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
Be brave! The Lord is with you,
I loved it. PS Sign up, you wont be disappointed! Thank you for your beautiful words today!
Thank you, I really needed this. With all this healthcare mess, I got a letter from our insurance company telling us that our premium will double at the end of the year. I know that it will be a big test of faith for our family. And of course, mother bear is coming out as I wonder if my babies will continue to have health coverage.
Love your posts on facebook, they make my day. And I love today’s picture caption: ‘Faith-filled mothering brings me to a place of dependence on the Lord.” It reminds me of when my son was born. He had to be in the NICU for a few days to make sure his oxygen levels were okay. And we were released with a clean bill of health, but those two days were scary and it would have been easy to let our minds run away with worry and let that become a stronghold to the devil. But my husband and I only got through them because we were dependent on the Lord, that no matter what happened, if something was wrong, we just had to trust that the Lord knew what was going on and would take care of our little one.
Thank you Heidi! Just exactly what I needed today. I love how you said “…to be a faith-filled mother we need to anticipate the grace and goodness of God in the lives of our children.” May God bless you with all that you need today!
Ok I’m going to try when I get back in town.
Thank you for the share! It truly is a blessing!
Timely words. I’ve been struggling lately over very real fears with severe food allergies that my two year old has. She reacts to the touch of dairy residue. It’s very daunting but I need to remember “I am with you always.” Even during frightening allergic reactions. And I do pray but need to pray more. Thanks for the encouraging post.