Friday, April 20, 2007

Parenting

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

I do not intend to turn this into a blog devoted to a book, but I would be remiss to not record for myself and share with you a few thoughts from the first 9 chapters of Gary Thomas' Sacred Parenting. (Yes, I have ordered two of his other books and plan to make them required Summer reading for myself. Wendy, I owe you big time for the suggestion.)

As I had my marathon reading session this week, God really hit me over the head with the picture of God in Heaven as my Father...parenting me as I parent my children. I have realized that it is not my job to be a perfect mother. I couldn't be perfect if I tried. Besides that, I am not trying to raise children that worship me--my heart's desire is that they worship God.

My job is to live a life that models a love and devotion to Christ. I should approach my job as a mother with joy. If I am serving my family, I am serving God. He is far more interested in the motive and attitude of my heart, than He is in my perfection.

"We are not the best parents, not by far. We don't have all the wisdom we'd like. We don't understand how everything fits together. We make mistakes, we make messes, we can do everything wrong--but God looks at us with a Father's delighted eyes. Where we see weakness, God sees humility. Where we see messes, God sees intent. Where we see failing, God sees motives. And He smiles. He takes us into his arms. And he laughs a father's delighted laugh." (page 52)

I love the passage in Zephaniah that speaks of God rejoicing over his people with singing. It reminds me of how, though I have a terrible voice, I love to sing to my children. We make up songs all day long. Even more than I love to sing to them, they adore being sung to...the look in their eyes when I sing their name is one of pure and utter pleasure. I can almost see their little love tanks being filled up.

This thought has revolutionized my day today. When I grew frustrated with the children's whining or illogical-ness, it was so wonderful to think of God looking down at me, in the same way I watch my children tackle something challenging. I could almost hear him, as my Father, saying, "Hold on. Take a deep breath. I'll help you. Getting frustrated just makes it more difficult. Take your time. There you go...good job!"

What a difference it made to remember that God is for us. He wants mothers to raise up God-fearing children. This is not a "small thing" to the God of the universe. He is available to me to supply the wisdom, patience, self-control, gentleness, joy that I so often lack.

Thank you, God. Thank you.

13 comments:

Big Mama said...

Love this post. And after the day I've had, I needed to read it tonight. Especially the part about the whining.

Anonymous said...

I love reading your blog and this post was especially inspiring. My children are young adults now, but there's truth in what you've shared today that can still be applied.
Another thing, you said you sing a lot to your children "even though you have a terrible voice"... remember God doesn't necessarily hear the sound of our voice as much as He hears the sound of our hearts when we are worshipping Him. He is our audience and delights in us as we praise Him.

Thanks for sharing.

keri said...

this is great jen. i've heard this book is great...i need to get it. you mentioned that verse in zephaniah...did you know there is a song for that verse (3:17)??! i've started singing it to evan at night and he LOVES it...he now can sing it to me and its the sweetest thing. and the words are God's words which is the sweetest thing about it.

Jennifer said...

Keri- I just got the Glory Revealed CD last week and have been playing it in my car...I think that is why the words were so fresh in my heart. It is a great song! I can only imagine how adorable it must be to hear Evan sing it!

Wendy said...

I'm SO glad you are liking the book!

I'm the same way, I can't sing, but I love that my kids still love to hear me sing to them. :)

Great post!

Phyllis R. said...

"I am not trying to raise children that worship me--my heart's desire is that they worship God."

Wow. I really love that. I find myself thinking, as my oldest heads into his junior year of high school, "Oh, I hope he thinks WE did a good job, or " I hope he thinks that WE have been good parents." Those thoughts usually cause me stress - knowing all the times I've "blown it". But what your sentence above says to me is that as long as his father and I have pointed him to our Savior, all the rest is just not very important. Thank you, Jen Mom!

Connie Barris said...

Jen,
Let me just say what I see, as an older mom.. that has raised two children and halfway there with the youngest... (although those other two keep coming back--smile)

God has put on your heart a precious ministry...

people come back to your website over and over because you display something that most people don't have or do or if they do, they just want a little encouragement...

You have this unbelieveable tender love for God first and then your family. You seen them through God's eyes. Not through human eyes.

You laugh when you should, you cry when you should...

you encourage people that need it just through your life.

you give people hope..

I don't know if you realize how powerful your ministry really is but it is...

I wished I had had someone like you when I was raising my children.

I am so glad you are there for others....

Blessings

melissa said...

I love reading your blog! You are such an inspiration as a mother of three little ones, and I appreciate your comments immensely. I am not a mom (yet), but love reading how God is teaching you through your children, and how you desire to be an example of Christ to your children. You're an example to many of us in blog-world, too! :)

Erin said...

That was a wonderful post, Jen. It is so just where I am right now. I feel like God is saying some of those same things to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing!!

I have really felt God showing me lately that I am focusing on myself. In "trying to be like Christ," I am placing the focus on myself and my own perfection rather than living and breathing and walking in the freedom of a loving relationship with my Father. If my focus is Him, He takes care of me, so I need not focus on myself. I hope that makes sense? Anyway, thanks again! I am going to have to get that book. And, who is the Glory Revealed CD by??

Jennifer said...

The Glory Revealed CD is a compilation. It is all pure Scripture passages set to contemporary music by Third Day, Michael W Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc... Just google Glory Revealed CD for more info. I recommend it highly.

Anonymous said...

Well said Connie Barris!

Chris from Canada

Sarah said...

I'm reading this book too! I love it--it takes away so much of the pressure I put on myself to raise "perfect" kids--not that that could happen no matter how hard I try, but it's still pressure, nonetheless!

Thank you for always having such encouraging, Christ-pointing words. You are a blessing :)

Girl Raised in the South said...

Sarah just showed me the book on marriage when I was there a couple of days ago, and I ordered all three of his for the bookstore - a copy of each for myself, of course. I've often said God gave me the kids he did, with the purpose in mind of raising me through them. That this book echos that intrigues me. Can't wait to read his stuff.