On Being a Christian Mother....

Just reflecting on what it means to me to be a Christian mother and what God is teaching me through being a mother....

Being a Christian mother means that Christ is the foundation of my life, and thus the foundation for the way I parent. I cannot and will not separate the two.

It means that God and His Word is my authority, not the latest scientific research or the leading child psychologists or educators.

It means that I must strive every moment of the day to be Christ-like because I am setting an example for Sawyer. I can tell him until I'm blue in the face that he should obey "all the way, right away, and with a happy heart," but if I don't do the same when God calls me to do something, or he sees me throw a fit when I have to do one more thing at church, I am a hypocrite, and he will learn that I do not practice or believe what I preach.

Being a Christian mother means that God must be my priority. I must spend time with God everyday...in His word, praying, worshipping, serving. I'm also learning that Sawyer needs to see me do these things. I love mornings when I wake up before he does and can spend some time in the Word, but on those days, I also need to do other things to let Sawyer know that spending time with God is important...gotta work on that! Sawyer needs to see by my actions, not just my words that I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

It means that I am responsible for teaching Sawyer who God is...by reading the Bible to and with him, by taking him to church, not just on Sunday, but every opportunity we have, by being a living example of the gospel, by using everyday lessons to point him to Christ, by praying with and for him. It's not my pastor's responsibility or his Sunday School teacher's responsibility, or the nursery worker's responsibility to teach him...it is mine. Sure, they are nurturing him and training him, but it is ultimately my (and Lance's) responsibility to give him his foundation.

It means that I must be the same person at home as I am out in public or at church, or Sawyer will question my genuineness. Besides Lance, Sawyer knows the "real me" better than anyone, and will see straight through any front I put on.


It means that I must guard his heart, his mind, his soul, and his senses, even when it is unpopular or "weird" compared to our culture's standards. It means that he might not get to go and do the things everyone else is doing, wear the same things, watch the same tv shows or movies, or listen to the same music. I must train him to be in the world, but not of the world. It means that when he asks me about things that are becoming accepted in our society like homosexuality, gay marriage, promiscuity, living together before marriage, etc. I must point him to what the Bible says.


Being a Christian mother means that I will teach him about God's love, but I will not leave out teaching him about God's justice and wrath. It means that I will teach Sawyer that he is a sinner, deserving death, and his ONLY hope is Christ.

It means that I will discipline Sawyer and I will teach him about forgiveness, repentance, mercy, and grace.

It means that I will love his daddy, submit to him, be faithful to him, and respect him so that Sawyer has security in his life and understands that marriage is forever. I'm learning that the best thing a child can have is a mother and father who cherish each other and make their marriage a priority.

Being a Christian mother means I will fail...miserably! It means that I must not rely on my own strength, but ask daily for God to help me. It means that I must ask forgiveness when I fail Sawyer...when I sin in my anger, when I am short with him, when I get frustrated and lose my patience. It means that just as God extends His grace to me, I must extend it to Sawyer.

It means that I must teach him that God is all he needs. I must teach him that because of his sin he is separated from God and he is in need of a Savior...and there is One...the One who died on a cross, the One who paid the penalty for his sin, the One who loves him and wants a relationship with him...Jesus Christ.