Not Alone: Trusting God to Help You Raise Godly Kids in a Spiritually Mismatched Home (22 page)

I dabbed at my eyes, but God wasn’t finished. So, to outshine Himself, as if that is possible, God revealed more as I read further about Eunice.

At the end of the third chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul mentions Eunice and Lois, Timothy’s grandmother, once again. In this particular letter to Timothy, Paul gives the young man wise counsel as well as his life’s mission:

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:14-15,
NLT).

These words are for us. This is Paul’s assurance that our years of relentlessly pouring Jesus into our kids will result in passing the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

Every prayer that we uttered, every slim and fleeting teachable moment that we seized, every opportunity in which we spoke God’s Word into our kids and modeled our faith
will not be wasted.
Like most things in God’s economy, these investments take time. Our efforts pay off long after our children leave our home. And we may never see the final outcome of our tears, our labors, our hard work this side of heaven. But I promise you, our efforts are not fruitless nor in vain.

As we near the end of our parenting journey, I’m impressed strongly by the Spirit to speak into your life what Paul spoke into Timothy: Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. Remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith with all those who have gone before you. And I know that same faith continues strongly in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flame the spiritual gifts God gave you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and self-discipline.

My dearest mom, the last sentence of Paul’s charge to Timothy has been my lifeline for years. Memorize this passage (2 Tim. 1:7,
NLT).
Let it become real to you, and live boldly, without fear. Be filled with God’s power and His unfathomable, unfailing love. Then you will discover that living a life of selflessness for your family is your ultimate joy. This kind of life is thriving in love.

One Life

Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There
are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you
surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the L
ORD
will be greatly praised. Reward
her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

PROVERBS 31:28-31 (NLT)

As our book draws to a finish, I find myself feeling melancholy and a little sad to say goodbye. While contemplating the end of our time together, I’ve felt a bit unsettled, but why?

One morning several days ago, while wrestling with this troubled place in my heart—this book’s ending—I went on one of my walk-’n’-prays. On this particular day, I took my unsettled feelings to the Lord.

“Lord,” I prayed, “why do I feel as if we haven’t finished the story yet? Father, what is it that You still want to say to every mother reading this book?”

Well, I’ll tell you what. God showed up! He’d been waiting for me to ask this question, because once I did, immediately a string of words were impressed on my mind.

Those words were a letter.

As the words began to tumble into my soul, I sobbed. I sobbed and walked. I walked and sobbed. And when I typed the words you will read below, more tears slipped from my eyes.

God has asked me to share this letter with you, my dear fellow mom. It is deeply personal, from Him to you. God also gave me the structure, showing me to leave a line where you are to write your name. Find a pen and a quiet place to receive “The Letter to My Chosen Mother.”

My Beloved _______________
,

I have loved you and your children since before you were born. I have treasured you and have been walking with you long before you knew I was there.

I stayed with you in the delivery room when you pushed through your labor. I stood near your head and marveled at the plans for this tiny life you were birthing, knowing that you were chosen to be this child’s mother.

When you tickled your baby’s feet and when giggles filled your heart, your laughter was worship in My ears.

I stood present in your child’s bedroom when your brow was furrowed with deep lines of worry. You wiped the child to cool the fever as I held your child’s hand and watched you work and whisper desperate prayers.

I heard every word.

When your little one waved to you on the first day of school, your tears I saw. You didn’t know it, but at My command a legion of angels walked with that small one through the door of the school.

I saw the cruelty of teasing and bullying by other kids on the playground. And when your small one cried himself to sleep, I was the One who gently kissed the tears from his cheek and whispered words of joy and hope for his future into his dreams that night.

It was I who cheered with you, my beloved, at your child’s first step, at her discovery of puppies and mud pies. It was I who watched over her while she slept and who thrilled with a proud chuckle at her first crush.

My love soared at your child’s baptism, and My righteous anger flared when the enemy spoke lies of deception and destruction into our beautiful child.

When you failed or you didn’t get a parenting moment quite right or even when sin caused pain or harm to those in your care, please know that every one of those moments I have redeemed. From those failures I will shine bright. I will use your child’s pain to draw him to Me in his adult years.

I know you have felt overwhelmed, uncertain and ill-equipped for this mission of mothering, but I assure you that I stand at your side to love and protect you and those you treasure most. I love your children with a depth and ferocity you cannot conceive of this side of heaven.

Never doubt for one second that I am beside you. I am whispering words of wisdom into your ears, and when you feel all alone in training up your child, stop and allow yourself to feel My embrace. I am all around you, and I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Every effort, action, correction, instruction and emotion you pour into your children will prove itself out in the future. That is My promise. Cling to that in the difficult days. It is
all
worth it.

Beloved mother, you are the chosen one.

Your mission field is a divine calling, to which none other can compare. Your mothering is far more important to Me than feeding the hungry or serving in church or supporting missions to other countries. Your mission field is your home; it is your husband and your children. This mission is for life, and this mission is eternal.

Your mission is love.

This is your high and holy calling.

And this is My Word: your children will rise and call you blessed. Your husband, your children’s father, will praise you, and, chosen mother of My heart, your strength, love and worship of Me will rise up, and you will surpass them all.

Your name and those of your children are written upon My heart.

—The Lord God Almighty

When you have a difficult day, when you feel as if you have failed your children or your husband or even failed in your faith, take out this letter, my friend. Allow God to love on you all over again.

A Calling

Mom, we won’t have a perfect life—far from it. But it is a life filled with laughter and joy. Of course, there will be tears and at times, difficult struggles. But we are living for a higher purpose than we can comprehend. We will reach our golden years with gray hair and wrinkles but also with a twinkle in our eye, because we will have walked with God. We will have watched our children grow up and become parents themselves.

We will know Jesus as we reach our end of days, and regardless of our spouse’s salvation choice, we will have lived lives destined to bring great honor and glory to God and to His Son, Jesus. We will have lived the everyday adventure with joy. We will have lived the abundant life.

We are the ordinary moms who did the extraordinary.

We gave Jesus to the generations.

Discovery

1. Read Acts 16:1-2. In verse 1 of this passage we discovered a spiritually mismatched relationship. In the second verse Timothy is described. How is he perceived by the people of the nearby towns? How does this passage reflect on Timothy’s mother and grandmother?

2. Has 2 Corinthians 6:14 been a stumbling block in your faith walk? Please describe how.

3. Look up Romans 8:1. Write it down. Then pray and ask God to place this passage in perspective and to allow you to live without condemnation and to walk in freedom.

4. Take time to do a search and/or to research passages of Scripture that speak to those who live in spiritually mismatched marriages. List them.

5. I shared with you how the passage in 2 Timothy 1:7 was a lifeline for me. What passage or passages have proven to be your lifeline?