Be a Joyful Mother – Even If the Job is Hard (and it is)

Truly there is no greater privilege and joy than being a mom, but with this comes no greater responsibility! 

Motherhood is the hardest, most demanding job in the world! Genesis 3:16 tells us this is one of the consequences of  the original sin  – women will have much pain in having children –  I don’t think it means just in child birth – it is a never ending life of pain in one way or another – sometimes physically and sometimes emotionally.

To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children;”

Ok, so we have established motherhood is hard.  But what do you do? Once you have taken the position, it is not a job you can quit – no, but –

  • You can quit saying it is hard
  • You can quit complaining
  • You can quit having a sour disposition
  • You can quit being negative
  • You can quit losing your patience
  • You can quit doing it alone

But how do we accept the most demanding job in the world without complaining?  The answer – we don’t have to do it – God promises to do it through you!!  He has not left you alone to accomplish this sometimes seemingly impossible task.

1 Thes. 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

That’s right!! –  God has promised to mother through you. Realize that the One who gave you the job is faithful and will do it.  Wow – Does any other boss offer you a deal like that?!  🙂

It would be helpful to memorize that scripture and claim it often – that’s what has gotten me through 37 years so far of motherhood!!  

Here are other scriptures to memorize and think on when you are feeling overwhelmed with your motherly tasks:

  • Exodus 33:14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 
  •  Psalm 94:13 That You may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked. (rest means power to calm myself)
  •  Psalm 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. 
  •  Psalm 131:2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
  •  Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You,  Because he trusts in You. 
  •  Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 
  • Col. 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 
  •  2 Tim. 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 
  •  Philip. 2:17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 
  •  Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;  no shadow of shame will darken their faces.  

So Moms – doers of the hardest job in the world – look to God and radiate with joy  – be glad and rejoice – because God has trusted you with the greatest privilege in the world – you get to mold, love, and be loved by His little children  –  don’t miss a moment of it!!!!

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.”

 

This post was inspired by the following two posts..  Please read them:

Stop Saying Being a Mom is Hard 

Why Being a Mom Isn’t Hard

 

 

 

 

 

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Halloween – Good Time to Teach How to Deal with Fear

 

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I was busy making ghost costumes for my 3 young boys when Betty Rich called and asked what I was doing. I was embarrassed to tell her. She was such a Godly lady, I thought she would surely be disappointed in me for allowing my children to participate in the holiday. However, I still marvel at her wisdom in the comment she made that day, “Sheilah, don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.” I have heeded that advice through the years and applied it in numerous situations. With that in mind, we enjoy the innocent fun at Halloween.

But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children. Thus, this is a great opportunity to use the fear to teach scriptures about the power of Jesus. You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits. In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’.

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.”) All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm for us parents to memorize.

Choose at least one scripture to memorize with your children that they can quote when they feel fearful. Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them the story of when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4) Emphasize that there is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out Ministry to Children for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

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A Lesson on Kindness

Train Up The Child is dedicated to helping you fulfill God’s commands to parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to teach our children as we go; Isaiah 28:10 instructs to teach ‘here a little, there a little’.

Begin this lesson by creatively making a poster of Ephesians 4:32 and place it on the fridge all week.  Read the suggested passages for Bible stories and tell them in your own words.  I have given you suggested things to share about each.  Do at least one of the suggested activities each day.  I am sure you can come up with better ideas on your own – this is just to get you started.

You can find more helpful information and songs related to kindness in a previous blog http://www.trainupthechild.org/?s=my+preschooler+hit+me.

Kindness

Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another

Bible Stories:

Luke 10:30-35 A man was walking down a road and some bad men jumped on him and beat him up and hurt him so badly he couldn’t move.  Then they left him all alone.  A man came by later but he would not help the hurt man.  Another man came by, but he wouldn’t help either.  Finally a man came by and felt sorry for the hurt man so he stopped and helped him.  He bandaged his hurt places and took him to a nice, warm place to stay.  Which man was being kind?

 Ruth 2 Ruth and her mother-in-law had just moved from another country to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have a garden to raise any food, so they were hungry.  Ruth went to a man’s field of wheat and asked if she could have the left-overs from his field. The man’s name was Boaz. Boaz told her she didn’t have to get the left-overs, but she could have whatever she needed.  Was Boaz kind?

 Daniel 1 The bad King Nebuchadnezzar had put Daniel in prison.  He was being mean to Daniel and his friends.  But one of the king’s men felt sorry for Daniel.  Instead of being mean to Daniel like the king wanted him to, he was kind to Daniel and helped him to show the king that God is good.

1 Samuel 18 through 2 Samuel 5 King Saul had been chasing David everywhere.  He wanted to kill David because David was so good.  David hid in a cave.  King Saul came into the cave and didn’t see David.  This was David’s chance to get Saul back for being so mean to him.  He could have hurt him but would that have been kind?  No, David let Saul go unharmed.  When Saul found out, he told David, “You have been kind, but I have been evil.”

John 4:6-29 Jesus was sitting at a well where people came to get their water.  A lady came to get water while he sat there.  She was a Samaritan lady and Jesus was a Jewish man.  The Jews did not like the Samaritans and would not talk to them or have anything to do with them at all.  In fact they were sometimes very mean to them.  But Jesus wasn’t mean to the lady.  He began to talk to her and tell her about God and how she could be saved.  Jesus was kind to the lady.

Prayer: Help us to show kindness by hugging, helping, sharing, and saying kind words to one another

Activities for younger preschoolers:

Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides

Feed birds or ducks or pet animals and share the verse

Share the verse while changing diaper and point out the kindness you are showing by
caring for him.

Teach him to hug and kiss – share the verse.

Play with ball and talk about playing kindly and sharing

Activities for older preschoolers:

Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides

Make a bird feeder out of a pine cone covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.
hang outside in a tree.  Watch for birds and share the verse.

Have him draw a picture and send it to someone just to show kindness.

Bake cookies and take to someone – share the verse as you work

Make or buy playdough and tell them you did it just to show kindness to him.

Describe situations or show pictures of different situations and ask if it is showing
kindness or unkindness –ex. Pushing, sharing, listening to parents, helping someone who falls down, telling someone, ‘I love you’, kicking someone

Songs:

Be Kind to One Another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QRXe4HsfSMc

Kindness, Kindness is God’s Idea you see (tune of Goodness on Music Machine: The Fruit of the Spirit)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kJR9THP9AM8

Books:

The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes Gift Edition

The Story of the Good Samaritan – Arch Books

The Angry King: 1 Samuel 18-2 Samuel 5 for Children

Jesus and the Woman at the Well – Arch Books

Jesus Teaches Me Kindness (An Arch Books Series)

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Lesson from the book of Judges – God hears us when we cry over and over and over and . . .


Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering (Judges 2:18 NLT)
 

O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries (Isaiah 30:19 NLT)

God hears us when we cry  (Is 30:19) (paraphrased for younger children) 

The Israelites had made it to the promised land, led faithfully by Moses and then Joshua.  When Joshua was about to die, he charged them to choose to serve the Lord forever.  Unfortunately, after he died, the people abandoned God.  This began a cycle that reoccurred 7 times over a period of several hundred years.

These cycles can be labeled ABCDE Cycles.  A cycle was:

Abandoning God
Bondage to their enemies
Crying out to God
Deliverance by God
Ease in the Land

Cycles in Judges

Download the PDF Cycles of Judges to make the picture above.  Cut out a circle from a sheet of card stock.  Then cut the individual circles out of regular paper and glue on the circle in the order they happened. Use this to visualize and explain the cycle the Israelites continually repeated.  Emphasize God always heard their cry for help each time they got into bondage after having left Him.  He always took pity on them, sent a judge to deliver them, and then gave them years of rest.  When the judge would die, they would walk away from God, thus starting the cycle all over again.

We all follow similar cycles in our personal lives when we wander away from God and get bound up by things of the world. The lesson we should learn from Judges is clearly summarized in Judges 2:18 and stated in Isaiah 30:19  – God will compassionately and mercifully respond to our cry for help over and over and over no matter how many times we walk away from Him!!  Lead your children to memorize these verses and declare that ‘God hears us when we cry’.

Read the book of Judges to see the record of the 13 judges sent by God to deliver the people, beginning with Othniel and ending with Samson.  Tell in your own words the interesting stories about some of the judges; your children will love hearing you enthusiastically relate the way God miraculously used them to deliver the people from their enemies!

A fun way to reinforce this story is to draw a big circle on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.  Then draw the 5 circles in the large circle.  Jump from circle to circle as you talk about the cycle the Israelites went through.  Do it over and over again – children love it.

Click here for some children’s books you can order about individual judges.

Click here for an excellent site to aid you in teaching children about the judges.

Don’t miss this opportunity to tell your children about the ultimate deliverer, Jesus Christ, who came to set us free from bondage to our sins and the punishment for them!
If you desire a more in-depth study of Judges for yourself, check out this site:

http://www.agapebiblestudy.com

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Teach Children About Labor Day

(This site tries to help you teach your children the reason for the holiday being celebrated – that it is not just a day out of school or a time for a picnic. There is a story behind each of our holidays.)

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Labor Day is a day set aside to pay tribute to working men and women (whether they get paid for their work or not). It has been celebrated as a national holiday since 1894. Read the history of this holiday here so you will be equipped to tell your children what the day is about as you go about your celebration.

Use some of these suggestions to emphasize the importance of work to your children:

  • Read the story of Nehemiah in your Bible or read and listen to it here. Then tell it in your own words or try to find it in a children’s Bible and read it to your children. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed and Nehemiah led the people to rebuild them. They had a mind to work. Build a wall together out of pillows and talk about having a mind to work and working together.
  • Think of ways your children can ‘work’. Find suggestions here for age appropriate chores.
  • Memorize as a family Col. 3:23 ‘And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,’ Talk about doing your best at whatever you do and doing it cheerfully.
  • Thank God for the work that Dad does and the work that Mom does.
  • Play charades acting out different jobs.
  • Lead your children (by example) to appreciate those who have a mind to work. Say ‘thank you’ to those yall encounter doing their work – waitress, teacher, trash collector, doctor, policeman, etc. Especially notice those who are doing their work heartily!

Happy Labor Day and thank you for your mind to work!

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