Joy Filled Motherhood

I am attending an awesome Bible study on Wednesday mornings at our church.  It is called "Free to Be a Joyful Mother."  Every week I leave with lots of insights into why I act the way I do, why my kids react the way they do, and what God's word has to say about all this.


Every week I have intended to blog about the lessons I'm learning, but I have such a hard time putting it all into my own words.  The teacher is so funny and eloquent, and I'm NOT.  So I feel like I have to explain everything with the preface..."You really had to be there..."

Anyway, I am not really equipped to summarize it all here, but you can check out our Women's Ministry blog for some more info.  Here are some of the tidbits that have really inspired me in the class.


~3 John 2-4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.


~Being a joyful mother is not a graded performance.  Influencing your children is not something you can micromanage.  The words I hear over and over are "RADIATE JOY", "MODEL BEHAVIOR," and look at the "BIG PICTURE."  We are in it for the long haul, and our goal is to raise independent grown ups, not perfect children.


~James 1: 2-4 ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 


~On being involved in your child's life, the teacher quoted a Barbara Bush commencement speech.  Powerful words.

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years, you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work, and, of course, that's true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer or business leader will be, you are a human being first and those human connections --- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make.

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent. 

Maybe we should adjust faster, maybe we should adjust slower. But whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children --- they must come first.

You must read to your children, hug your children, and you must love your children. Your success as a family ... our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house

~To describe how we can influence our children, she said that boys and girls need very different things from their mom's.  Ephesians 5:33  Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and te wife must respect her husband.

• What do our daughters need?  Our girls are crying out to be loved, cherished, and understood.  They want to be known and heard.  What do mom's (including me) do instead?  PICK at their appearance and criticize.  Our daughters want to be CAPTIVATING.  We need to build them up, so that they don't go looking for approval in the wrong places in the teen years.
• What do our sons need?  Our boys want respect, unconditional respect.  Not "I'm so proud of you, but you forgot to..."  What do mom's (including me) do instead?  Endless nagging and correcting.  

Finally, just because I love this song...enjoy.