Everyone home for Thanksgiving and celebrating life together with Christmas around the corner.

Desperate, Chapter 7, Sacrifice in the mundane–on selfishness!

“Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15: 13

“You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”

John 13: 13-15

Everyone was expected home any time. Seven of us at every meal plus the 4-10 others of the kids’ friends who would just drop in and want something “wondy” to eat, after all, they said, “This is our holiday–our time off!”

Funny how mamas don’t get time off on holidays! But, putting one foot in front of the other, willing my tired self,  was familiar and a habit that had served me well. (I had company over the weekend, a dinner for 10 women, and written to a deadline until midnight the night before everyone was due home–not to mention all the cooking and baking.)  The joy set before me–my beloveds, my dearest friends, my children, were all here to celebrate in the love we had created over the years–and this gave me the impetus to keep going a little longer, but with a light  and expectant heart.

Finally the hustle and bustle of everyone arriving home. Eating, movie, desert, dishes, messes, staying up late and talking, followed by the Thanksgiving meal, 17 in the house, cooking and cleaning up again, and finally I fell into bed almost asleep before I hit the pillow at midnight, after having cleaned up the messes again.

Two hours later, I felt a tapping, tapping, tapping on my arm. “Mama, wake up. Please wake up.”  Read the Rest at I Take Joy

The Mission of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson

Welcome back, ladies!

We pray you’re enjoying your study of The Mission of Motherhood. Sally is sharing her thoughts on chapter two with us this week. We know you can read faster than the speed we’re traveling at! Please, though, if you finish quickly, take some time to look up the scriptures, answer the questions, and maybe even read through it once more—use a highlighter and mark it up, even. I’m a speed-reader myself … and sometimes the problem is that I gloss right over things I should be paying more attention to! [Read more...]

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the
conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Right there, mama, is a major key to motherhood.

As mothers, we have many hopes, goals and plans for our
children. We want them to display certain character traits, to accomplish
certain tasks, to attain particular levels of education.

Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that once our faith
becomes sight, it is no longer faith!

In other words, faith is the assurance of things hoped for.
And by definition, those things are not visible in the present (they are “not
seen,” as the verse says).  This
means that if we are to walk by faith, we spend most of our present looking
toward the future.

And yet we must not neglect the present or the future will
never arrive. We must not give up our hope, or the work will not be
accomplished which the Lord means to use to form our children’s lives.

Motherhood requires a very firm hold on the hand of the
Father of all. We must trust our children to Him, and trust Him to reward our
work. Place your children there in His hands. Place your efforts and hopes and
secret dreams with Him and ask Him to increase your faith, even on the
difficult days. You will see your reward!

“It is not perfection that God expects from mothers. There
is no perfect personality that does the job best. It is not our background or
training or the way we keep house that qualifies us to be godly mothers.

God designed mothers to partner with Him in His eternal
work, and He has promised to reward our faith and our faithfulness. The
precious children He has placed in our hands are hoping that we will be
faithful and endure so that they will have a reason to hope and an example to
follow in their own lives.

It is for the children’s sake that we give our lives. WE are
protecting future generations that they might be strong for the battle of life.
We are the real, in-the-flesh, tangible picture of God’s loving hands, strong
arms of protection, and encouraging words of hope to our children. May God’s
strength sustain you as you embrace the heroic mission of motherhood in the
days and years ahead.” -Sally Clarkson

Something to Read:

I Peter 5:8-9 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences
of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”

What kind of battle are you up against in seeking to build a
godly heritage? Who would love to discourage you in your commitment to biblical
motherhood? According to this verse, are you alone in the battle?

Something to Do:

Spend time talking to God about all the worries and stresses
you have tried to bear alone. Thank Him that “He who began a good work in (your
children!) will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6!

To Discuss in the Comments:

This is the end of this study! We are so glad you’ve joined
us, and look forward to our next book together. Details to come! We would love
to hear any suggestions you have, as we wish to know how we can serve you
better. Thank you!

​

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His
harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38

We are living the answer to this prayer in my house this
week, and it’s been tough on this mama.

My second-born son left today. He is headed to Denver, where
he will serve in a friend’s church, then head out six weeks from now to teach
English in Xining, China. He is a God-follower who longs to bring the life and
light of Christ to the world.

We’ve spent hours reading missionary biographies on the
couch; prayed hundreds of prayers that our children would be used in the
kingdom; felt our hearts break as we heard stories of needy people around the
world.

The outcome of these years? Soon, one piece of our hearts
will wing its way into a country hungry for the truth of the gospel.

Sally shares about helping our children see their value as
ministers in chapter eleven.

“Helping our children understand that they were
designed uniquely by God to serve the needs of others helps them to realize
their position in God’s kingdom. each person will have an opportunity to live
out a story of how God used them uniquely to bring his light into the world. The
real foundations of a positive self-image are built upon the significance
bestowed upon us by God in allowing us to be part of the work of His kingdom.
Whether that work involves leading someone to the Lord, feeding the poor,
writing a note of encouragement to a depressed friend, visiting a lonely and
unloved neighbor, it is all significant to the Lord.

But how does a family specifically serve God and others? For
us, the focal points for training our children and serving as a family have
been hospitality, helping those in need, and evangelistic outreach. Through
what we teach and model in these areas, we hope to pass along God’s purposes to
our children and to the families they will establish.”

Something to Read:

Matthew 25:34-46 ““Then the King will say to those on
His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I
was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you
gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I
was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord,
when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something
to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite
You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You
sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will
answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to
one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it
to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from
Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil
and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did
not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You
hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I
say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This is a long, difficult passage! Are there people in your
life right now who need the love and service your family has to give? What can
you do?

Something to Try:

Help your children bake a treat of some kind and deliver
them with notes saying, “I appreciate you!” to five people whom the
Lord brings to mind.

To Discuss in the Comments:

What can you do as a family to fulfill Jesus’ directions to
go and be a blessing in the world around you?