It has been a long time since I last blogged. I could come up with many excuses, but I think the real reason would be a lack of direction. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with my blog. But over the past few days I have been bombarded with thoughts and perhaps, I have found my new direction.
Yesterday I was sitting and thinking and reading a book for the brief moments that my boys took a nap at the same time. I was thinking about our soon to be expanding family and my mind went in two different directions. One, which I will not go into a lot of detail with, was learning to be content and thankful for the children that I have. The other direction, however, was thinking on how I as a mother am to love and nurture my children. (For those who don't know, I am pregnant with our fourth child, we lost our first baby girl in labor at 38 weeks, and have been blessed with two other boys and our last boy on the way. If I refer to my children as "the boys" its because that's all I have here on this earth to raise, boys!) I was thinking about how I need to show my faith more to my boys. But, maybe I need to show it more to myself as well. I mean, the idea of nurturing my children in the Lord, not just raising them in a "Christian home", is prevalent on my mind. I want to make the Bible real to them, and I want them to desire it for themselves. I don't want to force it down their throats and in turn have them turn to the world when they get older. But I realize that first, the Bible has to be real in my life. I have to be living the Bible the way I want them to live the Bible.
So, how as a parent am I to love and nurture my boys? Simply by providing them with food and shelter and toys and other material things? Of course not! Do I take the time out of my day to love on them, hug them, cuddle them, play with them, read and sing to them, even pray with them? Or am I too focused on what I need to get done to keep the house clean, food on the table, laundry caught up, and who knows what else I may place above my children? Don't get me wrong, those are important. As a wife, I am called to be a keeper of the house, but I need to balance that with training my children.
I was reading an email this morning and these few lines caught me. My mom had always told me growing up that it takes a village to raise a family. This email said "it does not take a village to raise a child- it takes a dedicated mom and dad- a family. Children need our love, but it is through our time and dedication to them that they will feel that love". I thought that was an excellent point. If I am not willing to step up as a mother and do what it takes with my husband to raise our children, then my heart is not in the right place at all. I will undoubtedly have to sacrifice many of my own desires, but the end goal and true desire in my quest for good parenting is to raise 3 God-fearing Christian men who have the desire to live for Christ regardless of the cost. It may cost me everything, but it will all be worth it. After all, God laid out the guidelines in the Bible and He will provide the strength I need to do my role with all my heart.
Devotion to my children needs to start with my devotion to God.I cannot impress upon my children's hearts what is not already on my own. How can I expect my boys to grow up and be Christian men if I am not doing my part as a mother in loving and nurturing and creating a desire within them to love God? As my boys enter into adulthood someday, I want to be able to praise God as I see them step into their new roles with hearts beating strongly for God and for His Kingdom.
I know these thoughts are a bit jumbled, but this is exactly where my heart is right now. Focused on my heart for God and desiring my boys to have even more devoted hearts.
My youngest is now up from his nap, so I am leaving this blog article and going off to spend some quality cuddle time with my little man. I hope this can be an encouragement to other mothers to stand strong and strive to live Godly lives.
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