Just A Woman

 

You come to the end of your patience. You lose your temper. Then you feel worse.

The last thing you consider yourself to be is a “good mom.” And you think to yourself, It’ll be a miracle if my kids turn out okay.

And – surprisingly – that’s right where God wants to meet you. The place where you admit your powerlessness and your need for Him.

It’s only by God’s grace that any kid grows up to be a force for the kingdom.

You see, there are no perfect kids and no perfect mothers. No matter what you read in blogs, see in magazines, and learn in books. There are sinful kids and sinful moms and dads.

And the only thing greater than both is the grace of God. The God who says “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The God who loves to forgive, to transform, and empower.

God loves you – not because you are a good mother but just because you are His precious child.

God loves you – not because you’ve mastered all the skills of parenting but because He has.

It’s divine grace that will transform your parenting – not guilt.

It’s grace that will keep you going and serving and scrubbing when you’re exhausted and worn out.

It’s grace that will conquer your feelings of inadequacy and remind you of God’s love for you in Christ.

It’s grace that goes for the heart of your kids, not just their behavior.

~ Trevin Wax

 

I don’t know about you, but I needed to read that today.

The letter is addressed to “Stay-At-Home Mom’s”, but I believe it is accurate for “Every Mom”. It seems like every time I click on my homepage the news feed is letting me know just one more way that I am, or have, or will, scar my children for life. It pushes me into a guilt fest and it’s crazy. I can even experience the same thing as I read Christian blogs and books and magazines.

Yes, I want to learn to be a better wife, a better mother, a better woman of God… but all these above articles have one huge thing in common… they are opinions of mankind.

Not only are they opinions of man, not one of them lives in my life. Not one of them bore my children, or loves my husband, not one of them cleans my house or goes to my job, not one of them walks in my shoes.

I can learn from them.

I can learn from others.

I should.

However, there is only One who does walk in my shoes, loves my husband, bore my children, and does all of life with me… and that is Christ.

I have learned that  everything I need to know to be a better mom, a better wife, a better woman of God is found only in one place, the Word of God. If I keep my nose first buried in this Book, in His news feed, then I am able to better filter the opinions of man. I am able to guiltlessly laugh at some of the things that work for other families that would be an epic fail in my life and home.

I have come to learn in this decade plus walk as a believer, wife, and mother that all I need to know and remember to be better is grace, grace, and more grace, to walk by the Spirit not by the flesh, to rest in forgiveness (received and extended), and to love without exception. If I can simply learn to choose the fruits of the Spirit over the desires of the flesh… well, I believe God will take care of all the rest.

Yes, I will still read the blogs, the books, the mags… and may even glance at the homepage news feed article… but the bottom line is I know that I love my God, my husband, and my children with all that is within me… and I have to trust that love is enough and all the rest will flow out of that love.

I am after all just a woman.

Just a woman who is madly in love with one God, one man, and the children they have given me.

If love lived out was enough for the sin of the world to be covered at the cross, then love lived out most certainly should be enough to cover any scars that I might give my children as I try desperately to raise them in a godly way in this ungodly world.

I have to remember and remind them and myself that I am a work in progress just as they are… but hey, at least we’re in this thing together 🙂

 

 

 

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