Sometimes my kids see a mom who is impatient and weary.
Sometimes they witness a good cry.
Sometimes my kids see a woman who’s distracted by thoughts they don’t quite understand.
Sometimes they catch a glimpse of how grown ups experience hurts too.
Sometimes my kids watch as I fret and worry over things I cannot change.
Sometimes they observe their parents wrestle with the questions and the answers too.
And so often we think our kids need us to be brave only.
Be consistent invariably.
Be right absolutely.
Be faithful faultlessly.
Be wise undoubtedly.
Be happy seamlessly.
We can try to be all those things at all times, but because we simply can’t in our fallenness, to do so may simply be to inspire superficially.
And there’s really nothing more worthless to me than to encourage my kids with hope that is merely skin-deep.
But to go further than skin-deep is to cut through the fleshy, the marrow, the lifeline; it’s to bleed the Truth, pretty or otherwise.
So I’m learning this day by day: All my kids really need from me today is for me to look to the Cross. For me to point my life Christ-ward. To fix my gaze upon the beauty of the Redeemer.
“What is she looking at?” they will ask. “What is so pre-occupying, so mesmerizing, so wonderful?”
And they will take their eyes off themselves, their immediate desires and disappointments, and crane forward to get a better view of what it is that captures my mind, my heart, my longings.
We become what we behold:
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
So I set aside, for now, all the how-to books, the organizational tools, the portraits of beauty and wisdom, the biographies of the faithful…they are all worthy of my time and consideration. But today, I set aside all that I want to BE and BECOME, and simply start by determining who will set my course:
“But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7)
If your adversary is condemnation, disappointment, and shame…if it is the hopelessness of dreams unfulfilled and fear realized…if it is the discouragement of attempting to live in grace by your own strength…
…then your RESCUER is the Lord God. We need not look elsewhere for hope, help, or holiness.
For all of us mamas who are trying so hard to be what our kids need us to be: Behold HIM, and become like him. Behold HIM, and point your kids to him: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
That’s what they really need from you and from me today.
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What an encouraging way to start off my first day of spring break! After I sent my little sister off to school I read some of Stepping Heavenward by Prentiss and it had a similar plea to rest in God instead of mustering up my human ability to be perfect. It amazes me how He teaches me the same lessons by different means within an hour of the day.
Isn’t he faithful, Samantha! That is so neat to hear how he encourages your heart. Have a great spring break!
Setting my face like a flint, today dear friend! Thank you for your wise and lovely words.
Praying for us to both to know wisdom and strength in the face of weakness and inability. Thanks for your friendship, Melissa!
love it. what a beautiful reminder. thanks <3
You are so welcome, Paula! Have a very blessed week!
Same sentiments I’ve been wrestling against, Ruth. And I come before my Savior, hauling all my mistakes, perplexities, and hunger, for HE ALONE can truly help. “We become what we behold” – this, this one is beautiful and so VERY TRUE.
The Lord is so faithful to answer and comfort, Rina. Thankful to know how to pray for you!
Ruth, I have been following your blogs for a while now. And I always appreciate your tenderness and transparency. Thank you for this post, another reminder that before we can be strong for our family (husband and kids) we need to get our strength from Him who never fails us. What a great reminder to always point our yes to Him and not ourselves.
Thanks, Grace, I’m so encouraged to hear from you, and to know how the Lord is using both our strengths and our weaknesses. Praying you know encouragement and rest this week, Grace!
Such beautiful encouragement Ruth! Thank you for reminding us to point our children to the Savior and not to ourselves. I really appreciated what you said about letting them see the hurts and the why’s. If we desire for them to have an authentic faith, then they must see ours as authentic and not just “perfect”.
“If we desire for them to have an authentic faith, then they must see ours as authentic and not just “perfect”. AMEN!
A hearty “Yes, and amen.” from me. I so needed to read this, because I always want a plan to do better, be better, make them better. And this is just it – look to the One Who has perfect down already. Seek His face. Thank you sister.
I was able to pass this along to my stay-at-home mommy friends and family. Both of my sisters-in-law are going through the same season of life and staying at home. But even the best coffee breaks, get-togethers, girls nights out, and pow wows….. none of them save us from our shared stories of meltdowns…. AGAIN! We talk big to celebrate the joys because we struggle so deeply to understand the lows! It’s a rare friend who brings Jesus into that conversation, too! Not the feel-better Jesus or the at-least-he’s-with-me Jesus, but the one who has already given us and offered His plan and His best and simply said, “Believe.”
Your post embodied one of my most recent turning points, too! So it inspired me to write it out for passing along.
Better than a spring play date, I’ll tell you that! Thanks!
http://joninichols.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/what-children-need-that-parents-cant-give/
This was beautiful! Printed it out today…
What a great and beautifully-written post, Ruth! Thank you.
This is a post to bookmark and read again, because I need to be reminded over & over to look to the cross. I whole-heartedly agree, all my children need from me is to behold Jesus.