Good morning, Sweet Sisters!
I hope each of you sweet Mommas had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday and had the chance to soak up special time with your children and family! We celebrated on Saturday evening at a restaurant we had not yet tried, and it was delicious! I certainly missed my oldest son, as he was unable to be with us this weekend, but I so enjoyed spending special time with my family! Here we are at the end of our Spring Study. We have read through I and II Timothy and this is our last week in Deuteronomy. I have learned so much and I hope you have too. I pray for each of you each week, even though I don't know who you are. If you have any specific prayer requests or would just like to say hi, please leave those in the comments section below. :) Here is this week's reading plan: Monday - Deuteronomy 30 Tuesday - Deuteronomy 31 Wednesday - Deuteronomy 32 Thursday - Deuteronomy 33 Friday - Deuteronomy 34 Our Summer Bible Study will begin in June. I will have all the details posted very soon! Keeping reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea
0 Comments
It begins in the womb. The first sound a baby hears is it's mother's heartbeat. The consistent thump-thump becomes the child's comfort. Then her voice. When a baby is born into this bright, loud, cold, chaotic world, it finds solace there: in it's mother's arms, hearing her heartbeat through her chest, and listening to her voice calm and soothe it's fears. But this is just the beginning.
Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself As a mom, the influence I have on my children is the most significant influence I will leave on this world. No matter what else I accomplish, this influence is the most important. It's the only one that will last. Not just for my lifetime, but for generations to come. The influence I leave on my children is my only true legacy, and that influence will be passed down from one generation to the next. What a huge responsibility! I taught them to sit up on their own. I encouraged them as they took their first step. I've held their hands to guide them and protect them. I taught them to speak, feed themselves and comb their hair. I taught them to dress themselves, pick-up after themselves and as horrible as it was, I potty-trained them all (ok, technically I still have two to go here). I showed them how to write their name, memorize the alphabet and I have taught them to read. I've showed them how to ride a bike and how to swing on their own. I taught them to sing, and play, and pretend. I taught them how to share and take turns (although I'm still working on this with my two toddlers). And though there is much influence in the these things I've showed and told them to do, this is only a sliver of what they are really learning from me. My influence goes beyond what I have told them or even taught them. My true influence is my own example. My children will take from me, more than just the things I purposed for them to learn. Who I am in front of them (and when I think they are not watching) is what will sculpt the people they are becoming. What do my children see in me? Or I guess the real question is what do I want my children to see in me? What legacy do I want to leave with them? I have given this a lot of thought lately. How do I want to influence my children? I want them to see Jesus in me. If all they ever take away from me is: "My Momma loved Jesus with all her heart, mind and soul, and she tried so hard to serve Him" -I'm okay with that. I don't want to just tell them I love Jesus, I want them to know it. I want them to see it in me as I pray out loud or silently in front of them, as I read my Bible to myself and to them, as I take the time to tell them all God has done for me and point out His goodness and blessings in our lives. I want to influence them as a wife. I want my kids to see that I not only love their Daddy, but I respect him, I trust him, and I love being his helpmeet. I want them to know that my marriage to my husband is important, it's holy, it's protected, it's for a lifetime, and it is blessed. Perfect? No. But I want them to see me nurture my marriage and love, support, help, encourage, and submit to my husband. I want them to see through our marriage, that we aren't just spouses, we are best friends and we will always love and support each other no matter what this sinful world throws at us. I want to influence them as a mother. I want my children to know they are each a gift from God, His reward to us. I want them to know that only God loves them more than me, that I would protect them at all costs and that I will always be their biggest fan. I want them to feel important to me because they are priority to me. May they see it in the time I spend with them, the dreams we share, the laughter we exchange, the fun we have, the experiences we have together and the love I unconditionally give to them. I want to influence them as a person. May they see me treat others the way I want to be treated. May they see me be kind, gentle, caring, forgiving, compassionate, humble, and merciful. May they see me bite my tongue instead of lashing out. May they see me pray for those who persecute me and for my enemies. May they see me give forgiveness instead of revenge, and may they see me be kind when others are not. I want to influence them as a friend. May the see me nurture my friendships by listening, encouraging and helping my friends when they need me. And may they see me make time for my friends without taking away from my family. I want to influence them as a believer. I don't want my children to ever think that my faith in God is not important. I want them to see that sharing Jesus with others, serving in church, and being the hands and feet of Jesus, is important to me. I want to influence them in hardship. How do I handle it when life gets tough? Do I despair, complain, whine or give up? I want my children to see me at my strongest - when I am weak. In other words, I hope that as hardships come- that my faith in God, His Word and His promises- is so strong, that the hardships do not consume me. Instead, may my children see me stand tall, trust Jesus, and smile through my suffering. And lastly, I want to influence them through my mistakes. I've made many mistakes, and I'll make many more, I'm sure. I want my children to see me admit when I'm wrong, seek forgiveness from those I've wronged, repent for my sins, and learn from my mistakes. I don't want pride to keep me from showing my kids what true repentance looks like. My children are watching me. They are listening to my words, and they see my reactions to things that happen to me in life. My example, my speech, my actions, or lack thereof, is shaping my children into the adults they will become. I don't want to forget that. They're watching me, always watching me. Daily, I am disappointed in my shortcomings, and I have been praying for God to show me what areas I need to improve. I'm a work in progress - and will be - as long as I'm on this side of heaven, but I'm determined to try and do my best to guide my children well. They deserve my best. I'm very thankful that my own mother has been a wonderful example to me, both as a child and even now as an adult. That's the thing we should never forget: our influence as a mom never stops. Your grown children are still watching you. They listen to how you talk to them, your children, and others. They watch how you handle different circumstances that hit you head on. Our children, no matter how old they are, will be effected by our influence, our choices, our behavior, our attitude. We will leave a legacy. Let's do our best to put our best foot forward, serve God completely, keep our family as our top earthly priority, and leave an influence of godliness, humbleness, selflessness, love, grace and faith. Happy Mother's Day! Joyfully His, Andrea Well, I never intended to be behind a day, again, but...here we are! We will do a little catch up this week to stay on track of finishing this study next week.
This week's reading plan: Tuesday - Deuteronomy 25-26 Wednesday - Deuteronomy 27 Thursday - Deuteronomy 28 Friday - Deuteronomy 29 Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea |
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
October 2021
Categories |
Photos from John Beans, Noel Feans, Noel F., wuestenigel (CC BY 2.0), kinglear55, It's No Game, faktor1komma5, Noel F., Ted Rabbitts, Lisa Zins, irio.jyske, James Brennan Hawaii, Evim@ge, polipao, mysterykatt123, deziluzija, The Sleep Judge, Tony Armstrong-Sly, John Brighenti, ikarusmedia, Pavel K, amy32080, Matthew Paul Argall, Bennilover, Maria Eklind, kennethkonica, eye of einstein, kinglear55, Bennilover, Tony Webster, mothernaturebeauty, ForestWander.com, GoToVan, wuestenigel, Kenneth Vetter, greenoid, verchmarco, i threw a guitar at him., Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon, verchmarco, r.nial.bradshaw, Noel Feans, Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon, Schneidersphotography, sagesolar, flickr./com/photos/amanda_munoz