I'm taking a step of obedience here.
In my walk with the Lord, I have always thought my calling was to "loose the chains of injustice" caring for the poor, the orphan, the widow. My heart has long been turned towards the work of missionaries and I had wanderlust long before millennials began calling it that (that's a great term for it though!) And though I got a bachelors degree in Intercultural Christian Ministries (To be a missionary...) and a masters in Culture and Communication, when I got married to a youth pastor I knew I was making a choice to follow his career path which would likely land us in the United States. (Now I live in Iowa!) And when I started having children, I swore I wouldn't stop traveling the world. Nothing was going to change. And I fought that for quite some time. But things do change. They have changed. And I'm ok with the season of life of I'm in for now.
It will only be through the formative power of God's written word, the Bible, and through the listening of the Holy Spirit that we will become the mom's and dads that will raise God-fearing, mission focused children.
I still care deeply about the poor, the marginalized, and those without a voice. I still fight for them in my own quiet prayerful way. (I still write about it in my other blog!) But motherhood has left me questioning my invisibility. Quite frankly, it has stripped me of my know it all pride and brought me to a place of prayer and reliance on God's wisdom for my day to day and his sovereignty in my future. It also made me hungry for the encouragement and community of other woman who are doing the same things, the same dishes, the same diapers, the same sleepless nights that I am. So I created the group of Band of Mothers on Facebook to connect with some of my wisest mom friends! We shared prayer requests, advice, and encouragement. It turns out I'm not the only one who needed it!
I found myself thinking about this group and praying for the parents represented in it. As a writer, I also found myself wanting to share what I was learning about parenting from the Bible, from sermons I heard, from my day to day walk as a mom leaning on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and from books I was studying on raising children. I thought, start another blog. Then I thought, really? Do I really have time for another blog? I barely have time for the first one!
In the fashion that God has spoken to me at other times in my life, the thought would not let me go, no matter how much I brushed it off. This was God whispering to my heart. He has now given me a second passion- the redemption of the family and the strengthening of mothers through the empowerment of God's word.
I want you to walk away with my humble transparency, a dependence on God and a steeped in the Bible parenting cup of tea.
It will only be through the formative power of God's written word, the Bible, and through the listening of the Holy Spirit that we will become the mom's and dads that will raise God-fearing, mission focused children. One's that will also care about the poor and the marginalized and carry God's great commission. This is not another mommy blog post. I don't want to toy with your emotions (heaven knows, we already have enough of that!). I don't want you to become overwhelmed because you are "not doing it right" (whatever that looks like!) I will try my best not to make you fear that you are not "cherishing every moment" (because that is a tall order for a parent living on very little sleep and patience). I want you to walk away from reading this feeling grounded. Empowered. Whole. And the only way I know that is possible is to give you the Truth about parenting as it is in the scriptures. That you can do this through Christ. That mistakes you make are forgiven in Christ. That Christ is sovereign in your life and in the lives of your children.
I want you to know, that while I was voice texting my ideas for this blog post, I burned the kids' grilled cheese sandwiches. That I always burn grilled cheeses and often a curse upon the grilled cheeses slips out because I am not perfect. That's what I want you to walk away with: my humble transparency, a dependence on God and a steeped in the Bible parenting cup of tea.
"You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let our bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, So he loves also the bow that is stable.
-Kahilil Gibran
I desperately want my children to go forth from me, not as my arrows, but as His arrows, loving God, loving others. If that means sacrifice, as He bends me to His will, I will "Let my bending be for gladness." I hope to share that bending process with you here. Welcome to the first of hopefully many Band of Mother's blog posts: Bending Bows.
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