The Highest Calling

***I wrote this a while back, but thought it was appropriate for today. Enjoy!

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Being a mom is not what I expected. I guess it never is but now I truly see what a mission it is suppose to be. Motherhood starts the minute you know you are expecting. Whether 9 weeks along or 9 months, the “mommy” mode kicks in. In this mode, a lot of fear and doubt surface. “ Will I be good at this? What if I really stink at being a mom? Will my child love me?” All the “what ifs” surface, but the first time you hold that precious gift you know that God has given you the highest calling. You have been entrusted with the life and soul of one of His beloved children. Matt 18:10 tell us that each child’s angel sees the face of God and reports on their well being to Him.

The choices I have made as a mom have not always been the right ones. They may have been good things but not right for my family. I remember selling Tupperware as a “home consultant” and the excitement I felt about working from home and being with my girls. It was good for a while, but soon I realized I was spending too many hours working and hosting parties at night and on the weekends. My 10 to 20 hour a week job had turned into a 40-60 hour per week job. I had quickly moved to a management position and was being encouraged to do more. It was fun and I felt great about what I was doing, but I was missing out on precious time with my girls. I had begun to be short with them and I didn’t have time for the Saturday morning snuggles or the bedtime kisses because I was working. Something had to change!

Giving up jobs is not the only thing that changed. My mindset had to change. What comes first family or job? I chose family. Not everyone understands this choice I have made. It is hard in this society to say “NO” to great opportunities and put your children first. It is the same in serving God. There are many great mission fields and services that I can be a part of to serve my God, but I have to be sure I am fulfilling my first calling before jumping into another. I have been blessed with three precious girls who God wants to see serve and praise Him. My job and calling to teach them first and see that they know and love our Father. It is a job above all other jobs. (Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”)

I have found that being a mother has effected many choices besides my job. It directs the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the places we go, and the friends we hang out with. Children see and hear and absorb more from how we live than what we tell them. They become mirror images of their parents or their environment. It only takes hearing a tone of voice or common phrase come from your child’s mouth to convict your heart to change or make different choices. I remember one of our girls saying she didn’t want to go to church anymore because her daddy didn’t go. That prompted change in his life. He didn’t want to be the reason his baby didn’t find out how much her Father in heaven loved her. (Luke 17:2-3 “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.”)

Mike and I also had to make some changes in which we ran around with. Some of our best friends from school did not share the same insight and concern for what our children were exposed to and we found it less easy to take the girls with us to their house or to spend time with them. It was a hard adjustment for us, but we had to put our girls and our family first. God has been faithful in leading us to good friends who honor Him with their lives and also help reflect His glory to our girls.

Children also know if they are important in your life. They know what is valued most in their parents’ lives. They know by how we show them. It is a tough job, to say the least. I can not always be my girls’ best friend. I have to be their parent first, and that is not always easy. The costs are great, emotionally as well as financially. It changes you forever. There are more opportunities for saying “no” than for saying “yes.” There are many opportunities to listen and to be silly. One of the best bits of advice I ever received was from a friend at church. She said, “Listen to them always, even when you really aren’t in the mood. If they know you are interested in the small things, they will be more willing to talk to you about the important things.” (Thanks Kim for that advice)

Some people may say, “But what about you? What about your life? Your dreams? Your purpose?” All I can say is that for now, a very short time, I have been called to be a mommy and when the time comes and my children have found their own calling, God will give me a new purpose. No higher calling can there be than to see that your children love the Lord with all their hearts and will spend eternity with you in heaven! (Deut. 6:5 “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”)

I will leave you with a couple of “prose” that God put on my heart. May God bless you through these words.

Ode to Parenthood

Late nights and early mornings
Cost you every dime
Slumber parties, boyfriends
Tryouts that fail
School projects, recitals
All types of games

Knowing every moment
Where they are and
Who they are with!
Sixteen before you date
Be back by 10 and
Don’t be late!

Driving off alone for the first time
Not being able to reach them by phone
Graduating kindergarten
Graduating high school
Leaving for college

Class favorite, most beautiful
Student councils, officer elections
Band camp, tryouts
Making captain
Making mascot
Learning to lead
And to stand alone

First summer of camp
Packing up and leaving
Climbing a mountain
Finding Christ
Being baptized
Showing others the way.

Field trips, field days
Victories and defeats
Sharing in their celebrations
Comforting their tears

Children are a gift
God’s perfect angels
Sent from above
To teach us of His love
And His patience
For us, His children.



The Highest Calling

Lord, I plead,
What is my purpose?
Do you have a plan for my life?

Yes, my child,
Live today for Me!

But Lord, isn’t there some great mission
You want me to complete?

Yes, my child,
Live today for Me!

I know that, Lord,
But isn’t there some place special
You want me to go.

Everywhere you go, my child,
Live for Me!

Aren’t there certain people
You have purposed for me
To teach?

Yes, my child
Each one of these
I have given you to love.
Teach them about Me and
My love for them
By living each day for Me!