Complacency & Forgiveness

After I went to bed last night, I prayed that my last posting would touch and encourage those mothers who, at times, feel like "Lazy Mazey" to learn from Horton's faithfulness.

Two things came to mind as I was praying - complacency and forgiveness.

Are We Lazy or Complacent?
After my last post, I was thinking that I don't really identify with "Lazy Mazey" in the sense that I wouldn't call myself lazy. In fact I'm quite the opposite. I've got a list of things I want to get done and press on each day to check off as many as I can. I think the bigger issue is complacency. The dictionary defines complacency as "a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements." Myself, I get so caught up in doing or not doing that I forget to examine myself through God's eyes, to rest and just be in God's presence.

I know it's very important to take time each day to surrender and listen to what he wants for my day and my life, but there are some times that it has to be a conscious effort.

There was a time, before my son was born, that it wasn't so conscious. I was completely in love with Jesus and everything I did was out of my love for him. Even when my son was first born, I was completely blown away by God's love for each and everyone of us as individuals. How much love must it take for one to love us so much that he would give up his one and only son. Also, he loves each and every one of us more than we can or will ever love our own children.

Forgiveness
In my last post, I mentioned that God promises to take us up to heaven with him if we only believe that Jesus came to this earth, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, rose again and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us when we die. During prayer last night, I realized I forgot to mention forgiveness.

Not only does God love us beyond our comprehension and want us believe in him. He wants us to seek him, love him, believe him and ask him to forgive our sins.

When we present our sins to God in prayer, we repent of them, saying God I know that I've been selfish, complacent, prideful, ________, _________, __________. It's when we repent that God's mercy kicks in, covering us in love and peace that surpasses all understanding (Phillipians 4:7). The dictionary definition of mercy is "compassion or forgiveness shown to someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm."

God has the power to punish us, but instead, through mercy, he forgives us our sins and forgets them, casting them "as far as the east is from the west." - Psalm 103:12.

After asking forgiveness, our job, as believers, is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." - Mark 12:30.

Are you loving Jesus?
Yesterday, our pastor gave a sermon about loving Jesus, that was exactly what I needed to hear. I've felt so brow beaten by Satan's lies and attacks over the last few months, that this one hit me between the eyes. In summary, the point of his message was this - if we love Jesus, everything else will fall in to place. He said we are so busy trying to get everything done or done right, before we love Jesus, that we grow weary and weak. But if we just focus on loving Jesus first, everything else will fall into place. The more we love Jesus the more we become like him. He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us and focus us on the things that God wants us to do in our lives. The Holy Spirit also helps us to pray and praise Jesus, which also deepens our capacity to love Jesus and others. Are you loving Jesus today?

Father, we pray that you would help us to love you completely and thoroughly, with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength. We surrender our lives to you and ask that you guide us by your Holy Spirit to be active in our faith, not only believing in you, but believing you. Help us also to not grow comfortable and complacent, but ever seek your love and guidance following your example of loving and serving others. We thank you for loving us, even when we feel unlovable. Help us to love our children as you do, teaching them your ways and showing them mercy when it doesn't compromise discipline. We love you and praise you! Amen!

God bless you and your family!

Further Reading:
Psalm 103
Philippians 4

Psalm 103:8-14

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust."

Are you "Horton the Elephant" or "Lazy Mazey?"

God knew what he was doing the other night, when my son pulled Dr. Seuss' Horton Hatches the Egg off the shelf to read at bedtime.

As I read the story about Lazy Mazey, a mama bird who would rather do other things than sit on her egg, I saw some resemblance in my attitude over the last few weeks. "Wow, motherhood is hard. Is it really going to be like this? Is it time for me to go back to work? If only, I could have five minutes to myself."

Selfishly, Lazy Mazey decides that it'd be better for her, if someone else would sit on her egg, because she has more important and fun things to do. Mazey talks Horton, a lovable, gentle elephant, into sitting on her egg so she can go play. The story goes on and on about Horton sitting steadfast on Lazy Mazey's egg, not willing to move because he made a promise to take care of it. He faithfully sits on the egg through storms, judgement and trials saying repeatedly, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful one-hundred percent."

Okay, I never once thought of Dr. Seuss as deep, but this night, I was convicted. Our children are given to us by God as blessings. In Psalm 139, David says "You knit me together in my mother's womb" and "All my days are written in your book." If you haven't read this Psalm, I highly recommend it.

God chooses each one of us to be our child's mama. It's not by mistake. So why, do we take this very important position, anointed by God, so lightly sometimes? Why do we question whether we're doing the right thing to stay home with them, instead of shipping them off to daycare at six weeks of age? There are many different points of views and answers to this question. The few I come back to are, our culture and society do not value motherhood and Satan does not value life.

Our Culture & Society Do Not Value Motherhood
Face it, most Americans love their stuff. They want to look good, live good and have fun. Others place their identity and importance in life on their career. But at what cost? Many of today's families are dependent on two incomes. What if, we lived with less, placed more value on people instead of things?

Satan Does Not Value Life
"The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy" - John 10:10. Satan does not want us to birth new life, let alone succeed in teaching them that Jesus is "the way and the truth and the life" - John 14:6. He'd rather keep us tied up in ourselves, fulfilling selfish desires, staying too busy to care about others or be effective as Christians, keeping us addicted to money, shopping, food, drugs, alcohol, and other unhealthy things. He's rather us believe his lies that we're not good enough to be Christians and lead us back into those things that were weak points before we accepted Christ. "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" - John 8:44.

There is a Way Out
I'm not going to lie to you and say that I don't struggle with selfishness, busyness, anxiety and believing Satan's lies about my past, but I am going to tell you that we have a way out. God promises to take us up to heaven with him if we only believe that Jesus came to this earth, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, rose again and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us when we die. He created each and everyone of us and planned out our lives according to his purpose. I know I often fall short of walking in his path, but can you imagine how great it would be to live each day for Christ, loving as he loves and caring as he cares. Not all days in a Christian walk are without troubles, in fact they're far from it. God says that "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33. The joy comes in knowing that even in the darkest of times and longest of days, God is there loving us and we have the hope of one day being reunited with him in heaven through Jesus' sacrifice.

Horton Rewarded for His Faithfulness
In the end, when the egg begins to hatch, Mazey appears out of nowhere. Now that the hard work is done, she wants it back. A funny thing happens though, when the egg hatches, out flies an elephant bird. Horton's faithfulness is rewarded. He was faithful day and night, cold and hot, good times or bad to sit on that egg. He was rewarded with a baby that reflected his image. Are you being faithful to God and taking your job as a mama seriously? Just as we are created in His image, our children are created in our image. Our job is to make sure that our little munchkins grow to know and love Christ, so they may reflect His image as well. All this from a Dr. Seuss book. Who would've guessed? :o) So are you "Horton the Elephant" or "Lazy Mazey?"

Father, please help us as mamas to be faithful in raising our children. We thank you for the blessings that they are and pray that you help us even in difficult times to remember that we were specifically chosen to mother our children. Help us to be bold and stouthearted, approaching your throne of grace with confidence that if we ask, you will answer. Help us to love you, find joy in the mundane and always remember that you sacrificed your one and only son so that we may one day join you in heaven. Please forgive us our selfishness, hopelessness, and any other things that keep us from being the mama's that you've made us to be. We love you and praise you! Amen!

God bless you and your children!

Further Reading:
Psalm 139
John 14

Welcome to "Mama Needs Prayer!"

Hey, mamas! Are you tired, burnt out, broken, stressed, busy, frustrated, confused??? Mothering is THE most important thing that we'll ever do in our lives. So why is it is so difficult?

In my life, I know that I don't surrender each day to God like I should or if I do, I get caught up in my own "to do" list trying to accomplish everything I "need" and "want" to get done, not necessarily to God's will for my day.

Right now, I have a son, who smack dab in the middle of the "terrible twos." Most days lately, I feel like I'm at my whits end. Ever feel like that?

In an answer to prayer, and a cry of desperation, I Googled "Christian stay at home mom help." I found a list of blogs by Christian women at "Christian Stay at Home Mom" and quickly read through many of them as my two-year took a brief nap. I found encouragement and advice on mothering, living frugally and much more. Some of my favorites include "Freebies 4 Mom," "The Centsible Sawyer," "Embracing Him," and "Mommy Stays Home."

I look forward to sharing this adventure in motherhood with you as I pray and explore God's will for my life, attempting to make it a point to surrender each day to Him.

Welcome & God bless you!

Amy