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