Looking through old journal entries and photos, I found this gem.
I’ve been a mother for over 20 years, but only 17 of those years as a Christian mother. There is a difference.
Before Christ, much of my focus was on outward behavior. I wanted our children to obey so we would look like a “good family” and so there would be peace in our home. But as God transformed my heart, the focus became love…God’s love.
We knew what it was like to live in this sinful world apart from God and to be slaves to sin. In our early years as Christian parents, we often leaned toward legalism because we did not yet understand that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. We were still learning that obedience flows from a loving relationship with God, not merely from rules.
At times, fear also dictated our actions, fear of man, fear of our children getting hurt, fear they would never believe and trust in Christ. That fear sometimes wounded the very children we were trying to protect. There are things we said and did that we wish we could take back.
We know that God’s perfect love casts out fear. I have learned that when fear takes hold of our hearts, it can choke out love. Yet I am deeply thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.
It was by grace that I was saved, and it is by grace that I am being sanctified, shaped, and conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
To my children: I rise and call you blessed. You have shown me tremendous grace, love, and forgiveness. My prayer is that through all my imperfections, you saw Christ in me, and that His irresistible love continues to draw you closer to Him and mature you in your walk with Him.
My prayer for our family remains the same: that we would love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
I love you.
I share this publicly to glorify God, magnify Christ, and edify the brethren. To the mothers in the midst of child-rearing: this is one of the hardest, holiest, and most sanctifying callings God gives. Do not grow weary. God sees your labor, your prayers, your tears, and your faithfulness.
Keep going, Mama. The Lord is at work in your children…and in you.
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”
— Colossians 1:28–29
“The process of shaping the child… shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.”
— Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family
Altar of Heaven 