A few years back when the girls were toddlers, a pastor's wife told me to "embrace the call of mother." At this time this was a particularly challenging call because I needed ministering to so badly. During church services I would feel frustrated that I could not really get into the worship or attend to the preaching of the Word, because I was distracted and needing to tend to the kids, keep them quiet, occupied, etc. The presence of the Lord is something that can't be compared to anything else and I just wanted to be caught up in His presence, but couldn't seem to go there in worship. So there was this constant struggle. The underlying problem of course, was NOT the kids! Rather, it was me relying on church time to spend time with the Lord instead of setting time aside in my daily routines. I was spending so much time on laundry and tidying up the house, graduate studies, and work that I was leaving no time for nurturing my relationship with God. My days were full of so many things but void of time with Him. At one point I remember almost giving up that I would ever be back where I used to be with my faith before the kids came along.
One day a friend told me about a worship conference she had been to at International House of Prayer www.ihop.org and that the sessions were recorded online. I pulled up the site and the first session I listened to was Mike Bickle teaching on how to have an effective prayer life. He talked about how sometimes we have a wrong paradigm of God and that we need to understand and believe that the Lord delights in us, He loves it when His children talk to Him. I also found a link to their 24/7 Prayer and Worship (live) which can be streamed on i-device. So I started listening each night as I worked on my studies. Sometimes I would stop and just worship and pray as the Spirit moved me to do so.
These times were so refreshing! And I then found it easier to embrace the call of mother, even in church!
All of a sudden I did not have to rely on the worship team at church to lead me into a great time of worship. I was having great worship right in my home office! Tending to the kids in church wasn't so frustrating anymore, and I felt better about myself as a mom.
Take time each day to get into the presence of the Lord, even if only for a few minutes.
It's like the song goes, "Better is one day in Your courts, better is one day in Your house, better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere!" When you do this you will find that it is much easier to embrace the call of mother and when challenges come you will feel more confident in coping with them.
Blessings!
One day a friend told me about a worship conference she had been to at International House of Prayer www.ihop.org and that the sessions were recorded online. I pulled up the site and the first session I listened to was Mike Bickle teaching on how to have an effective prayer life. He talked about how sometimes we have a wrong paradigm of God and that we need to understand and believe that the Lord delights in us, He loves it when His children talk to Him. I also found a link to their 24/7 Prayer and Worship (live) which can be streamed on i-device. So I started listening each night as I worked on my studies. Sometimes I would stop and just worship and pray as the Spirit moved me to do so.
These times were so refreshing! And I then found it easier to embrace the call of mother, even in church!
All of a sudden I did not have to rely on the worship team at church to lead me into a great time of worship. I was having great worship right in my home office! Tending to the kids in church wasn't so frustrating anymore, and I felt better about myself as a mom.
Take time each day to get into the presence of the Lord, even if only for a few minutes.
It's like the song goes, "Better is one day in Your courts, better is one day in Your house, better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere!" When you do this you will find that it is much easier to embrace the call of mother and when challenges come you will feel more confident in coping with them.
Blessings!
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