Category Archives: Submitting to God

Sneak Peek #23

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

Twenty-one years of mothering amounts to 8,760 hours. We’re in a marathon, not a sprint, parenting one hour at a time. Once we stop straining to figure out when our running will end, we can calm down enough to enjoy (or deal with) the moment. We can manage the race like a distance runner, not bolting at top speed unnecessarily but setting a comfortable pace for the long haul. Steady perseverance will get both mom and child where they want to go.

The Bible speaks about this in Isaiah 28:10 kjv: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” We don’t think there’s any other place in the Bible where an instruction is double repeated like that. As a matter of fact, this advice is so important that the Lord repeats it three verses later in exactly the same way, amounting to a quadruple impact.

Isn’t this a great description of mothering? A precept is only one statement; a line smaller yet; a little bit here, a little more there. That’s what mothers are called to do, and by the time children reach adulthood, much has been written on their hearts and accomplished in their lives.

Know this from the beginning, however: even though children grow up, mothering doesn’t end. When your newborn is placed in your arms, her whole world is you. As the old proverb says, “To the world you might be one person, but to one person, you are the world.”

As you move through the days and gradually the years with that child, the relationship will change. While her life broadens, you’ll become a smaller part of her world and be only one of many influencers. Even in the distant future, though, when one day you’re on your deathbed, you’ll continue to be her mother, hopefully still taking advantage of the chance to put precept upon precept, line upon line.

 

SIDEBAR:

TEACHING TACTICS OF THE MASTER

  • Love your pupils.
  • Accept them as they are.
  • Look them in the eye.
  • Keep lessons short.
  • Be gentle.
  • Tell stories.
  • Use visual aids.
  • Pray for your students.

Sneak Peek #22

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

I (Mary) could tell almost from the womb that my children would be radically different from each other. Julia, my second-born, had a strong leaning toward nurturing. She gravitated toward babies while she was still a baby herself, and her first word was “be-be.” She consistently wanted to interact with babies and touch them.

On her second birthday we gave her a life-sized baby doll, and she carefully mothered her “Connie” alongside me as I mothered the baby brother who joined our family when Julia was twenty-one months. When she outgrew playing with dolls, she put her Connie on a bedroom shelf where she remained. Julia went on to babysit for all five of her younger siblings, and I counted on her to help me care for them through her own childhood years. Eventually Julia’s own daughters played with Connie, who had been carefully preserved during the twenty year interim.

Julia’s first official job during her teen years was as a summertime nanny for a pediatrician. Her nurturing ability took her through nursing school and later into full-time motherhood, foster parenting, and adoption. And it was all evident from her babyhood.

Knowing ahead of time that God wires our children in specific ways encourages us to look for what those qualities are.

SIDEBAR: MOTHERS IN THE BIBLE

  • Obedient Mary
  • Trusting Elizabeth
  • Doubtful Sarah
  • Believing Hannah
  • Deceptive Rebekah
  • Wise Lois
  • Loyal Ruth
  • Sinful Eve
  • Cunning Jezebel

Sneak Peek #19

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are the most darling people on the planet. When your first newborn was placed in your arms, you probably studied her face with a sense of awe you’d never felt before. Taking in the wonder of a brand-new life is an experience words can’t define. The scent, the softness, the helplessness, they’re all intoxicating. As a mother holds a baby against her chest, she’s lulled into a dreamlike world of wonder like no other.

And the amazement over children doesn’t end when they leave their newborn days. Crawlers, toddlers, and those learning baby talk easily capture a mother’s heart with their antics. Watching them is pure entertainment, and cameras click nonstop over every new achievement.

Then there is the charm of preschoolers with their endless (and often thoughtful) questions, many of a spiritual nature. Parents delight in watching them try to make sense of their narrow worlds and enjoy new abilities to do more things well.

Regardless of how infatuated a mom can be with her little one, there is no good time to worship children.

SIDEBAR: HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN

  • Pray for solutions.
  • Pray the details.
  • Pray daily.
  • Pray over a sleeping child.
  • Pray believing God will answer.
  • Pray your child’s name into Bible verses.
  • Pray anywhere.
  • Pray about everything.