Metro Moms

Please...Pick One

I (Sheree) had other plans for today but then I received this post from Taraleigh.  She is on our blog team and is a regular contributor.  But she's also a learner.  She's been reading the blog not as a team member, but as a mom who sees her need for help and Titus 2 discipleship in the training of her three young children.  She is, by the way, an excellent mother whose children are demonstrating the fruit of her (and Kyle's) training and discipline.  Please read her post carefully.  These are wise and timely words...

Recently my husband and I were at a really nice restaurant where you could order a "trio" of desserts.  It was our anniversary so we decided to splurge and get three large desserts for just the two of us.  Oh my, I had a tummy ache, worse than when I had those donuts for dinner!

Over the last few weeks we have had so many great practical examples, testimonies, and how-to's.  Haven't we been blessed to have been so well taught and inspired?  Yet I have caught myself thinking, "Oh, I need to teach my son how to respect women; my daughter to respond by saying yes ma'am; and while I'm at it, I may as well train my 1- year-old to say yes ma'am since he's just starting to talk; oh and my 6-year-old needs to start having devotions; and I love that idea about doing family game nights; and I need to be an example to my kids and start stopping for pregnant women I see on the road who need help!"  It's overwhelming to think of all the things that I need to be teaching my children.  Parenting is a huge and sometimes daunting task!!!

Let me encourage you to pick one. Pray and talk to your husband about one thing to concentrate on right now. Not three or four or five.  Just one.  Don't stuff yourself by trying to take on too much.  Here's the even better news...something that I am so grateful for. In Isaiah the Lord promises something to us moms:

"He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young" (Isaiah 40:11).

Yes, the Lord is sovereign over our parenting.  He is leading us and our husbands through this awesome task...one thing at a time!

Posted by Taraleigh

One of Ten Children Shares About Her Mom's Example

Today you will hear from Julia, the second of ten children, share honestly and graciously about the example of her terrific mom, Virginia.  To be around this family is to experience life to the fullest! Virginia is a joy to know -- and Julia is a testimony to the example of her mom, especially in the area of compassionate and merciful giving of her life away to others.

My mom, Virginia, wanted to be a missionary but instead God’s will was for her to get married and raise ten kids (maybe more, who knows! J). In my mind, she is a missionary. She has embraced this calling and has trained us a lot by her example of a selfless, compassionate, servant. Mom has a heart for those who are in need, which is often people she doesn’t even know. I remember when I was younger and we were running errands on a hot day. We drove by a pregnant girl walking with groceries and my mom picked her up and took her to her apartment. She followed up with her and bought her diapers for her baby. When she makes sales from one of her books, she gives all the proceeds to a pastor in Malawi and occasionally pulls together boxes full of items to send over to Africa.  She could easily use that money for herself but she finds so much joy in giving it away.

Her joy and excitement made us want to participate! It made us want to send care packages, participate in Walk For Life, and reach out to our neighbors. When people ask her how she does it, she doesn’t answer or receive this question pridefully, she simply says “By God’s grace.” She is not perfect. She doesn’t have it all together. She loses her temper. But she is always quick to realize when she does, and is always quick to repent and ask for our forgiveness. When she is overwhelmed by the fighting or chaos in the house and doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she chooses to laugh. We don’t always have the most elaborate meals, and they aren’t always on time, but my mother has shown us that what we have is plenty and that we are blessed beyond measure when we are all together eating at our big table. Meal times are crazy at our house, but my Mom has shown us that the noise we have is just a sign of the Lord’s blessing on our lives.

Though my Mom has put much effort into instructing and training me, there were years where I was grounded 320 days of the year for talking back to her and my dad. There were years when my heart was hardened towards having children, marriage, and missions. For a couple years I wanted NO kids. J I have definitely not arrived, and now have new issues I’m working through, but my heart has been softened by God’s grace and by my mother’s example to me. She hasn’t just instructed me, she has showed me how to live it out. I hope this encourages moms who are not seeing much fruit of their labor. Stay with it! The Lord’s mercies are new every morning!

 

Cheerful Servanthood

Today we'll hear Lauren talk about the example her mom, Donna, has set for her in cheerful servanthood -- even through difficult circumstances.  Yes, Donna is a woman who exudes joy!  We are grateful for her discipleship and training of Lauren, who is a delightful young woman -- and for her example of perseverance and faith through providential trials.

When thinking about the many ways my mom has blessed me through her training and discipline, one thing stands out in my memory above the rest. My mom has an amazing ability to maintain a cheerful attitude even through the most challenging of circumstances. She has encouraged me to do the same for as long as I can remember.

My Mom always reminded me that she couldn’t do what she does in her own strength and that I shouldn’t try either. Her instruction was always to depend on the Lord for the grace to obey. Growing up, when I was asked to do something, I was expected to do it as mom always says, 'immediately, completely, and cheerfully.' Even though that wasn’t always my first response, Mom was faithful to discipline me in a loving way and walk me through the heart issues so that I could respond better the next time. Many years of this consistent training helped me to develop a proper response to authority so that now, as a young adult, I am able to communicate and relate well to professors, my employers and my parents’ friends. Most importantly, this training has affected my ability to properly respond to God’s leading.

One thing I think was critical to my learning process was that Mom not only instructed me, but also consistently demonstrated how to serve cheerfully through her excellent example. My mom is the most selfless person I know. She is always there when someone needs a meal or just a person to talk to. Whatever the situation, she’s there to serve with a happy heart and a cheerful attitude. Growing up with this example has been extremely beneficial to me. Now nearing twenty, I sometimes still need to be reminded to do things cheerfully when asked, or not asked, for that matter – there are times when I should just meet a need that exists. Yet, I know that because of my sinful heart, serving graciously would be a much more challenging issue had it not been for my mother’s faithful training and loving example.

I am so grateful for the godly mother I have and I look forward to passing on her wisdom to my own children some day.

Rising Up to Bless my Mother: She trained me to respect and honor women

We wanted to provide a couple of testimonies from young men about the influence and training of their moms to inspire and encourage those of you with sons.  Remember, before you know it the little boy that looks up to you now will become a young man you must reach UP to hug!  This testimony is from Eric, a fine young man in our church who is about to graduate high school who is writing about his mom, Kate.  I (Sheree) can testify to the fruit of her training as I am one of the ladies who regularly benefits from his respectful and chivalrous manners.  Thank you, Kate!

The first area among many where my mother’s training has most benefited me is in the area of respecting women. She taught me that women are to be treated with respect, and that this should start with how I treated her and my sisters. She always said, “If you can respect and care for your sisters and I then you will most definitely be able to respect and care for your future wife.”

Training on this matter started for me when I was very young. If I was fighting with my sister she would interrupt and simply tell me that if I truly respected Sarah I would be more concerned with what she wanted than what I wanted.  Her teaching me to respect her and my sisters spilled over to treating every girl I would ever meet with the same respect.

 

So what does disrespect look like?  With mother, my greatest struggle was talking back. However, if I truly esteemed my mother and respected her as she truly deserves, then I would never consider my opinion or word above her own.  What does treating all other ladies with respect look like? Opening their doors, pulling out their chairs, talking to them with every word being soaked in respect. These are all nice things but it really comes down to the heart. Simply being aware of mom’s wants, needs, and desires -- and considering them more significant then my own -- is truly respecting her. This teaching has helped me become an easier brother to get along with, as well as a son who truly loves and respects his mother.  After "practicing" respect with my mother for years after all her training, I will by God's grace be prepared to honor and respect my wife.

I will forever be indebted to my mother for teaching me the importance of respecting the women in my life.  Her help and guidance will surely have a lasting impact on my life.

I hope this honors you in some small way. Mother. You truly have my respect and love.   Thank you for your training in this important area!

A Beautiful Garden

This week you'll be reading testimonies from young adults whose moms trained and disciplined them in specific areas and the God glorifying fruit that has come by His grace.  Today you will meet Lynette, a joyful single mom from our church.  Her high school daughters, Cassie and Chrissy, share the following inspiring testimony of their mom's example.  We pray this testimony will be especially encouraging to single moms who, like Lynette, are faithfully serving your children and making a sacrificial investment in to their lives day after day.

 

My sister Cassie and I were asked to give a testimony of some of the ways our mom trained us when we were younger that are  a part of our lives now. The one that we think is most important to us is devotion to God. She always made sure that we spent time with God before we did anything else. Mom enjoyed explaining how important it was to read God's word and to hide it in our hearts. Whenever we'd say that we finished our devotions she'd ask questions about what we learned and what we thought we should work on each day. We were not allowed to respond with "I dunno", "I don't remember" or "Nothing" (which we tried several times!). Yet as a result of her faithfulness to keep training us in devotion to God by God's grace we now LOVE reading and studying God's word on our own! We look forward to spending time each day with our Savior!

The second thing we thought of was how she has trained us from when we were young to have a servant's heart.  She'd constantly remind us of Ephesians 6:7-8, "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."  She was definitely and example of this!  She loves to serve!  Mom would pray for us continuously, that our hearts would be to live out this verse in everyday life.  She also regularly reminded us to serve for the glory of God not for our glory.  (I, Chrissie, didn't like being reminded of this so much! :-D) As a result of her prayers and wonderful reminders, we now enjoy serving others.  We also love to do it for the glory of God, although we do have our moments!

So just to encourage you younger moms out there, keep planting the seeds in your children's hearts and you will find, someday soon, that all the disciplining and training will pay off and the seeds you've so graciously sown into your child's heart will bring forth a beautiful garden of flowers! And they will learn from you to plant  the same seeds you planted into them into their children's hearts!  What a testimony you and your family will be!

Thanks to all Moms out there for the hard work you do everyday...especially YOU, Mom!  We love you!