Family Alive

The most influential people in the world are those who pray big in Jesus’ name. The second most influential are mothers. –Tweet from John Piper

What a powerful thought!  May I be a mother who prays big in Jesus’ name!  I’ve been mulling over the what influences I specifically I want to have on my children…

• Grace… yes, there’s discipline, but I hope when they’re grown my kids will remember that they could find grace in our home and from me.  I will love them no matter what, a reflection of the amazing grace I’ve been given by my Savior.
• Patience… yes, Mommy will get mad inevitably, and surely more often than she should.  But I hope and desperately pray that I can grow in patience so that in the end, my kids won’t remember my mad moments, but they’ll remember grace-filled patience.  (Currently working on Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself study on the fruit of the Spirit… I could spend the rest of my life in this study, I think!)
• Faith… When I think back on my own walk with Christ, I think of an adventure.  I pray that our lives would be filled with one adventure after another of learning to trust God and seeing the amazing ways He’ll provide, from big adventures like trips to Nicaragua to little adventures like praying and believing for something.
• Love… In this day and age, divorce is everywhere.  I know how much I cherish the fact that Brian and I both have parents that can celebrate nearly 40 years of marriage.  It’s the most joyous thing on earth to be married, but it’s also HARD WORK.  I hope that Brian and I can display grace and love to each other so that down the road, Analise and Josiah can learn from us and put it into practice in their own lives.
• Prayer… Definitely an area that ebbs and flows in my life.  But I want my kids to see me praying, to hear me asking God for His will to be done, to know that we can specifically, to know we can pray together for needs in their lives.  If they know from the earliest age that their mom prays confidently and boldy, they will learn that they, too, can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).

Lofty goals!  But the quote above should inspire me to press on daily, reminding me that EVERY day I’m a mother, I’m leaving a legacy even beyond my children and grandchildren.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” –Deuteronomy 7:9