Monday, November 12, 2012

A Happy Mother

"He gives the childless woman a family, making her a HAPPY mother. Praise the LORD!"
Ps 113:9


In the last week or so, I have put aside pretty much everything in my life to focus on being a HOMEMAKER and pleasing my husband.



"to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be discreet, chaste, HOMEMAKERS, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."

Titus 2:4,5


"But a married woman is concerned about....how she can please her husband."

1 Cor 7:34


It has been such a sweet time. I am busy from sun up to sun down. Making meals, cleaning up messes, changing diapers, teaching school, grading papers, teaching the kids the Word, praying, etc...

but you know what I have noticed God bringing into my life in the middle of it all-
HAPPINESS!!!!!!!


God has given me (a single girl with no shot for a godly husband...) a husband I don't deserve and 5 children!! That makes me happy!! Taking care of them makes me HAPPY. Singing with them makes me happy. Watching them grow makes me happy. Teaching them the Bible makes me happy. Doing their dishes makes me... well, ok...um....yeah, HAPPY!!!! Because if God hadn't given me any of these people as gifts, I would not have a mountain of dirty dishes. Meals are getting harder to "swing". I have always been able to "swing it" but when you have to feed 7 people 3 times a day, you can't exactly swing that.

Tim is a HUGE help. He makes me look like a good wife because he does pretty much all the grocery shopping on his way home from work. He works 2 miles from our house and Wal-Mart is on the way home. Jehovah Jireh hooked us up with convenience!
 Tim is UNUSUALLY helpful. 
Everybody that comes to our house sees that. He grocery shops, cooks, and does dishes... and he actually enjoys it??? 
(if you want to get jealous that I have a helpful husband, remember we have 5 CHILDREN. God knew I was going to need help! AND we have NO family here to help us.)

We are both slaving away side-by-side rowing this heavy boat toward shore (aka Jesus).
We are equally yoked and are able to accomplish much work together. I LOVE being yoked to Him. 
Single, girls... DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED!!!



The kids and I have been dancing and laughing and our home is being filled with joy. The joy of the Lord. Having an undivided heart is freeing. I think I had let things creep in to our lives that were making the scales get off balance. Even "good" things like ministry, people, business, etc. Tim is such a protector of our family. Even more so than me. If it is going to cost us family time, he probably won't do it. I love him so much for that...even when he puts me in my place. :) I joke that I am the gas and he is the brakes in our marriage. Praise God that He gave me a husband to put the brakes on me!!!! 


I want an undivided heart toward "fulfilling my ministry" 

 "fulfill your ministry"
2 Tim 4:5

Did you know you have been called into ministry? If you are a believer in Christ, you have!
God has WORK for you to do. He has already prepared it in advance so that all you have to do is walk into it.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Eph 2:10

All of our ministry will include doing the work of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:5). The ministry God is calling me to fulfill NOW is to please my husband and to train up my children and teach them to fear the Lord.

"Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord."
Ps 34:11


This is a HIGH calling. This is a HARD calling. This requires all of my energy. It requires hours standing at my kitchen sink doing dishes around the clock. Not being up-to-date with the latest fashions. Up early in the morning and purchasing my children's spiritual food and water for the day. 
"She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family"
Prov 31

And staying up late at night praying over my sleeping children. That God would lead them not into temptation but deliver them from evil. That He would protect them by the power of His Name. That they would live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, while growing in the knowledge of God. I pray that God would sculpt Hope's heart into a graceful pillar, carved to beautify a palace. That He would raise up my sons to flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants.
(Matt 6:13, John 17:11, Col 1:10, Ps 144:12)

 I love caring for my family. I truly am a
 " a HAPPY mother of children" in my home.

:)



Single girls, pray that God would guide you to a godly husband so that you can raise up children to know and love Jesus. It is a beautiful calling to be able to stay home and give your life away. It IS NOT glamorous. It is the hard work of a farmer who slaves away planting seeds on hard soil in the blazing sun but there is REWARD. Much reward. 
In the mean time, serve Jesus with all your heart where He has you. Don't waste any of your single days.
Pour your life into younger girls. Share the gospel and have spiritual children. You can raise them!
The more you give your life away, the better you will be at being a wife and mother if God blesses you with a godly husband. 

"whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matt 10:39



 "I die daily." 1 Cor 15:31

So, I guess my question is 
ARE YOU A HAPPY MOTHER?
If you aren't evaluate your priorities.
Maybe you need to step away from things that are pulling you away from your "ministry" to your husband and children. Are there idols in your life that you have unknowingly been bowing down to that is robbing you of the joy God has for you? 
Ask God to make you a HAPPY mother in your home.
When people ask my kids about me, I pray they say, 
"My mom is HAPPY!".

"As you wholeheartedly engage in the huge call to train the children God has given you, you will begin to enjoy your kids in an entirely new way...
Take pleasure in your children, even when they are acting very ordinary. Choose to live with a smile on your face. Leave the children with memories of a mommy who was full of God's patient love and warm touch. If we are grumpy mothers, we leave a stain upon our sons and daughters. Recognize moodiness and depression as predators who will rob your home and God-life! Get up early, begin on your knees, and "purchase" portions from heaven for your family. Proverbs 31:15 says, She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family... I choose to believe this verse isn't speaking of only eggs and toast, but, more importantly, of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Bread of Life that truly sustains us. Mom, get the well of your spirit so filled up it spills out onto your children and fills your household with joy! You cannot "make peace" with a dark cloud hanging over your home day after day. Make war against this gloomy weather, and fight for all the promises of God!"
(No Ordinary Child by Denise Mira)

** that is a rockin' book if you want to be inspired and challenged!!

*********************************************************
One thing I am incorporating daily is MUSIC. Fill your home with music! Dance and sing to the Lord. Begin your day with worship. Show your kids how to worship and have joy in the Lord. 
"My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
Ps 28:7

"The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
Is 51:11



If you are like me and are constantly fighting for your joy, then cry out to God!
He is the giver of JOY. Ask Him to fill your home with joy, peace, and laughter.
He will!! A lot of this "homemaking stuff" is stuff God has had to give me and teach me. I have NO IDEA how to be a wife or a mother. God has got to teach me. He also has to teach me how to LAUGH!!!

"But the one who rules in heaven laughs."
Psalm 2:4
"She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."
Prov 31:25

Laugh, moms!
Be a HAPPY mother in your home!

"the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Neh 8:10

What you are doing today is how your children will describe the way they grew up.
May we be HAPPY MOMMAS in our homes! And always remember that it is not by your power or by your strength but by the power of the Holy Spirit in you. Get in the Word! Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your cup till it overflows so that you are able to pour it out on your families. Life is HARD. Yet, God can give you joy in the mean time. His everlasting joy. Ask for a double portion!!! :)
"Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs."
Is 61:7

Purpose in your heart not to be negative or complain for one day. To only say words that build up and contain life. It is a discipline as we learn to control these crazy tongues of ours... which are so prone to start wildfires. May we use them to heal and build up. Set the tone in your home as one of JOY!


Be Blessed~

Steph




"I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." 1 Cor 7:35



"Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Ps 86:11











5 comments:

Love Being A Nonny said...

what a precious post! Praise the Lord for marriages like yours!

Erin Southwell said...

Amen!

VIC said...

I need to read this every day.

Thanks, Steph!

Anonymous said...

As always so blessed by your words. Thanks so much, Erin Lynn

Megan said...

I needed to hear this word from the Lord today. This is a post that I will look back on time and again when I am struggling to find joy in my marriage and in motherhood, which seems to be a never ending fight to hold onto!