Monday, May 14, 2012

A day late but not a dollar short....Mother's Day thoughts

Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” The same grace that saves us is the same grace that grows us up into Christ’s Image. As a mom, my heart’s desire is for my children to have a personal life-changing relationship with Jesus. How in the world do I do that?!? How do I cultivate that? I have tried for years, in essence, to put that on my list of “to do’s”…clean the house, laundry, make my kids godly. As If I could. Face it, I can’t seem to do this in myself, how in the world can I believe I can do this (even if it is at the top of my “to do” work list) in my kiddos? Therein lies my problem, it is not my best effort in my life or in theirs. Why is that? So that I can’t boast…in my life or theirs. Salvation and transformation is by God’s Grace. It’s by faith. What a beautiful promise but also a great faith challenge as a “to do “woman and mom. One of my favorite quotes is from Oswald Chambers,” You cannot give someone that which you have found, but you can make them homesick for what you have.” Is my life as a mom reflecting a “homesick” life to my children? Is my faith walk with Jesus and His grace so changing me that His Life is being more and more reflected through me, to them? I cannot give them saving faith in Jesus, nor can I grow them up into His image but I can live a “homesick” life as an example, as I follow Jesus, grow up in faith, and continually change by His grace; as I mother, love, discipline and do my “to do” list from His gift of grace. How’s your love and faith relationship with Jesus doing?