How much is enough?

Once I was at a meeting with a group of church leaders. One woman there was the mother of a teenage daughter. She was lamenting how some of her daughter's friends had gone astray and she was wondering how we could keep our own children from going astray. One of the men spoke up and said, "We just need to pray continuously for them!". This didn't sit well with me. Afterall, how much prayer would be enough? Also, that seems to put it all on us. It also makes God out to be an ogre who witholds his mercy and grace from his children.

The truth is, God never withholds his mercy and grace.  

Luke 11:11-13 - What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;  or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  

We just need to tap into and get in touch with God's heart and his grace. When I pray for my children and others, I try to join my heart with God's heart for them and get in touch with what he already wants to do. I then place them in God's hand and entrust them to him without taking them back. Then I stand back and watch in amazement as God works and makes up for where I am lacking. This also helps make intercession a form of contemplation where I am able to encounter him.

I am also a homeschooling mom. Some days can get a little overwhelming. There is always more that you feel like you could be teaching your children and there is always more housework and laundry that could be done.

The Lord has really impressed on my heart that my main goal everyday needs to be to encounter him and help my children encounter him. Encountering him does not mean we say some prayers and memorize some scripture verses. Encountering him means we seek his face, meditate on his love and place ourselves in his presence. Instead of having my children memorize scripture I teach them the stories of Jesus' life so they get to know him and love him.

As a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom, I do not always get through every subject. My house is often messy and I do not always get through all the laundry, but I can have peace at the end of the day knowing I did the most important thing...I encountered Christ and helped my children encounter him as well.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids!

People often ask me "How do I do it?". What they mean is, how do I manage a household of 6 children, home school, keep up with the household chores and not lose my mind. The thing is, without God's grace I really don't. Often God likes to remind me of this. Sometimes I forget I have limitations, I try to do things in my own strength and then it seems that God will withhold his grace from me. I will then end up in tears and completely overwhelmed until I realize how weak I really am, that I need him for everything I do and surrender myself again at his feet.

It also is never a good idea to compare ourselves with others. We must remember that we do not always see the full picture of other people's lives. What works in one family might not work in another. If we compare ourselves with others we are always going to feel inadequate, but is that what the Lord is saying to us?

2 Cor. 7:10 says that "Godly sorrow leads to repentance, without leaving regret, leading to salvation but a worldly sorrow leads to death." If it is the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin then there is hope and the Holy Spirit will give us the grace to change but if we get down on ourselves because we do not feel we are measuring up to the standards of the world then that can lead to despair which is not good for our soul.

Sometimes we may have a hard time discerning the Lord's voice from the voice of the world. An important thing to remember is the Lord likes to encourage. About a year ago I was at a homeschool support group meeting. Some women were sharing with us how they do scripture verse memorization everyday with their children that stresses different positive character traits. Initially I felt a heaviness in my chest because this isn't something I was doing with my kids. The thought then came to me that what I was doing with my kids was just as if not more important. Every morning before we we start school, we pray a decade of the rosary. This is teaching my children the stories about Jesus and hopefully helping them to fall in love with him. If they fall in love with him then the law will be written on their hearts and we won't have to go through every positive character trait there is. (Disclaimer: If the Lord hasn't yet put this on  your heart to do, don't fret, I didn't do this with my older girls and they turned out well and love the Lord very much!)

My main prayer has always been that God will make up for where I am lacking. Amazingly he always has answered that prayer. My older two girls who are teenagers, love God with their whole heart and desire to serve him. This amazes me because there have been days where I lost my cool, had no patience, failed to spend quality time with them and failed to give them Jesus. I can only credit God's grace.

In case it hasn't been apparent yet, I am a very visual person. I often like to envision myself leaning back into the outstretched arms of Christ and relying on his strength which I need so desperately! I also like to do visual type prayers for my children. I like to visualize the Sacred Heart of Jesus and then in my mind, visualize each of my children, one at a time and place them into his Sacred Heart. Then I leave them there, trust God with them and not worry about them.

I once told my older girls about my vision of placing them in Jesus' Sacred Heart. They got a kick out of that and visualized themselves being shrunk and  being picked up by the back of the shirt with their little legs flailing. It may seem silly but I think it has worked for me!

As parents, we are often hard on ourselves concerning our parenting ability. Instead let us trust that we are clay in the Potter's hands and the Potter knows what he is doing. Let us not question the Potter's ability or how long we think it is taking him to mold us. Instead let us lean back into his chest, rest in him and learn what his heartbeat sounds like. Only then will we be able to be the parent we dream of being.