The normal truth of Mother's day is a day of warm and fuzzy feelings. Your kids are smiling extra wide smiles, excited to "celebrate" ANYTHING, your husband is covering you in cards and flowers and maybe trying his hand at breakfast and whispering to the kids to remember to be good for the WHOLE day....all of this is the norm for Mother's day. And the day started this way for me and then we got to church! You would think that this warm and fuzzy feeling would continue through out the day but Ha! not this Mother's day! And the truth is, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. :-)
The sermon was not focused on all a mom does for her family or all that she "puts up with", the sacrifices she makes or even all the time she spends cleaning and cleaning. :-)It was a challenge for us to be BETTER at what we do and in the ways we raise our children. "The time to teach them is NOW!"...this was the statement that stood out to me. At first I was taken off guard because my truth of Mother's day had changed. (Where was my warm and fuzzy sermon that gave me my pat on the back?!?!?) Just when I think that I had covered all my bases, a new truth is revealed, the wool falls from my eyes and I can see that there is still more that I can do for my children. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me now...it was a perfect Mother's day sermon. What a better time to really look back at the way you are raising your children and understanding where you can improve to make sure that you are doing all you can for them than on the day that they are celebrating who YOU are to them.
We pray before every meal and before bedtime, we read bible stories and yes, God does make it into our conversation but is He our total focus in ALL things we do? Probably not. Do I stop to pray with them over the things that seems so small? No. Do they know that they can pray for anything at anytime? I THINK so. Do I spend the time to memorize scripture with them? Not so far~(Thanks for the SUBTLE hint, Poppy!) They are too young, I will start when they are older....the truth??...the time to start is now. If they can sing a Hannah Montana song by heart then they can memorize a bible verse, right?!?!? :-)
So, the truth is that I have been convicted this Mother's day and it took me a while to grasp it and take it all in. It is not about me but still, even on Mother's day, it is about them. Those two sweet little faces that are entrusted to me are still looking up to me for guidance on MY special day. And I need to be the mother that shows them the power of prayer and the power of God's word NOW and in their future. The truth is that they NEED me to be this person in their lives. This is the truth for ME as I see it now....
