How will they know?

Staying home with our children is a privilege and a blessing. Of course, it can also be exhausting! Can you relate to Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Do Everything"? It's easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of cook, clean, change diapers...repeat! I have those days. I have really tired days and I have days where I feel there is nothing left to give and bedtime can't come soon enough.



But those days don't last. They just send me running back to the Lord desperate for His rest and refreshing! What mother can argue with the fact that we have such an immense need for God to help us parent! On those days when I do good to get everyone fed, bathed and hurricane Sorensen cleaned up off the floor I fall to my knees and remember again, "I can't do this without you!" I usually find myself in the morning on my face humbled and asking (admittedly sometimes begging!) for His grace and every ounce of strength I need to do more than make it that day...but to pour into my children!

I have such a vision for what it means to be a Mom. What an awesome responsibility and what a beautiful gift and opportunity! Deuteronomy 6 above paints such a wonderful picture. Jesus is on our lips...all the time! We don't separate spiritual life and real life, our spiritual life is our real life. We live at the intersection of what is seen and what is unseen.

In our home we like to act. We throw Joseph into a hamper "pit". We part the red sea of blankets. We run from King Saul on our tricycles. We enjoy the excitement and fullness of the lives of people in God's word. I enjoy those times..(well I'll admit the 315th time we act out Joseph in the same day wears me down), but to me Deuteronomy 6 goes somewhere much deeper. As much as I love to organize things and make plans, there is something undeniably organic about that verse. Look at the words: "talk about them", "speak about them", "write them down", "tie them on". That's a lot of talking and reminding! Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation about something you could care less about? An hour seems like eternity. It feels forced, dry, boring, and uninspiring. I think God is onto something here. We know that our God is always about the heart. He is always about authentic love and worship. Look at the command again. Talk about His Word ALL THE TIME. So we have two choices. Make a rule and follow it or find a way to live it!

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks
(Matthew 12:34b)

If my mouth is to overflow Jesus to my children, the only way to do that is to have a heart that is overflowing! I am finding that the best way to teach, love, parent my children is to invest in my relationship with the Lord. It is amazing how my parenting changes based on where I am spiritually. The little things stay little things and the big things where they should be. I have things to talk about with my children because I am chewing on things for myself. I have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control because I am full of the Holy Spirit. So when I try really hard to be a good Mom and disciple my children I feel burned out. But when my relationship with the Lord is vibrant, being a Mom like that seems natural. It's not perfect, I'm not perfect, but I can see it. I have a glimpse of what God has available for me. The wonderful part is that it's not hard work in front of me, but lots of amazing time with Jesus and His Word. Being with Him changes me. And experiencing Jesus disciples my children. Does that mean when I don't "feel it" I don't teach it? No, but I know the fruit of overflow is much juicier!

This leads me to think about the Romans 10:15 verse. How will my kids know His Word and His Ways without me telling them? What does that mean? What do I talk about? The direct application of Deuteronomy addresses His words in the Bible. Our kids need to know what path leads to life and what path leads to death. They need to know God and His character. They need to know His commands and widsom. But not only do they need to know His Words, they need to know Him. My heart longs for my children to know God. To really know God! To relate to God as alive and close! How do you teach a relationship? How do you teach a passion? You can't. You can try to explain it. You can give them reasons, ideas, rules, you can try to paint a picture. All those things are okay in their proper place. But what about a vision? How will they know? How will they know unless you show them? If being a Mom means letting my children know God out of the overflow of my life, this also means I am one of my children's most important resources for seeing what that looks like! Think about it. We want our children to repent...quite often! But what if they have never seen it? We can explain it. They can understand it the structure of it. But what if we give them a vision for it! What if I come and repent before my children when I get frustrated, impatient, unjust? What if I genuinely ask for their forgiveness? They will see it. They will understand it. It will come alive for them.  

A revelation...

The Lord spoke so clearly to me in the "life with a newborn" season with Enoch last year. There were little to no large chunks of uninterrupted, child-free time with Jesus. I could feel it. I was aching for it. When Nick would take the kids for a bit so I could steal away with Him I would cry from the separation. I know that everyone's secret place looks differently and functions differently but this is a peak into mine. I need to worship, a lot. I need to pray in the Spirit. I need to read His Word. I need to listen to Him and cry out to Him. I need those things. They are my supply. But what if it's just not physically possible? What can I do? "Lament" was my first choice! But then the Lord spoke:

"How will they know unless you show them?" 

You want me to worship, cry, and seek God in whatever way the time calls for right in front of the kids while they play and scream and chase the dogs? Yes! But Jesus, don't you know I like to have the right setting and atmosphere? Don't you know I have to be alone? It finally clicked for me. They have to see it. Yes, my oldest was only 3, but it's not too young!  I might tell them I love Jesus but how much more powerful for them to see what it looks like when Mommy is with Jesus! My time with Jesus looks different than our family worship time, it just does. And even though I don't expect my kids to be carbon copies of what they see, it gives them a vision. It brings His Words to life. It's another way to speak His Word. Okay, Jesus I'll try it. It was a challenge at first. Lots of distraction! For some of you, you may thrive on the chaos, not me! And even though they mostly preferred playing nearby to joining me, they saw. And it was now their normal. This is life. We teach His Word because we live it. Mommy teaches us about Jesus because she knows Him. Now, 9 months later, I revisit this again. Newborn season is over. It's not hard finding time alone now. But the time I have is before the kids wake, during nap, and after bedtime. So Jesus throws me a curveball..invite Nora to stay up late. Really? Today? I'm so exhausted and Nora is part of the reason! Okay...fine...I'll do it. So Nora stays up and helps me clean the house (mostly because she just doesn't want to go to bed). Then it's time. My guarded, treasured, desperately needed time....and now I'm not alone! You'd think it'd be easy. Just "act normal". It stretched me.  Dance like no one's watching? Sure...when no one's watching! But by God's grace I did (eventually!).  We danced, we worshiped, we prayed. As I was on the floor crying to the Lord about something, Nora came and lay her head in my lap. Her little lips moving and her eyes closed. She was praying, singing, praying in the spirit with me, joining her heart to Jesus and her Mommy. Then she fell asleep, peacefully, in my lap. What a treasure! What a gift! I lay my hands on her and prayed my little Mommy heart out for this precious girl! It's so easy to get lost in the sea of wet panties, spilled food, and messy toys. But when you have those moments where you experience what this abundant life in Jesus is all about you get it. For me, this is Deuteronomy 6.

How can they call on him unless they believe in him? How can they believe in him unless they hear about  him? How can they hear about him unless someone preaches to them?  
Romans 10:15  NIrV

The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Staying home with our children is a privilege and a blessing. Of course, it can also be exhausting! Can you relate to Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Do Everything"? It's easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of cook, clean, change diapers...repeat! I have those days. I have really tired days and I have days where I feel there is nothing left to give and bedtime can't come soon enough.



But those days don't last. They just send me running back to the Lord desperate for His rest and refreshing! What mother can argue with the fact that we have such an immense need for God to help us parent! On those days when I do good to get everyone fed, bathed and hurricane Sorensen cleaned up off the floor I fall to my knees and remember again, "I can't do this without you!" I usually find myself in the morning on my face humbled and asking (admittedly sometimes begging!) for His grace and every ounce of strength I need to do more than make it that day...but to pour into my children!

I have such a vision for what it means to be a Mom. What an awesome responsibility and what a beautiful gift and opportunity! Deuteronomy 6 above paints such a wonderful picture. Jesus is on our lips...all the time! We don't separate spiritual life and real life, our spiritual life is our real life. We live at the intersection of what is seen and what is unseen.

In our home we like to act. We throw Joseph into a hamper "pit". We part the red sea of blankets. We run from King Saul on our tricycles. We enjoy the excitement and fullness of the lives of people in God's word. I enjoy those times..(well I'll admit the 315th time we act out Joseph in the same day wears me down), but to me Deuteronomy 6 goes somewhere much deeper. As much as I love to organize things and make plans, there is something undeniably organic about that verse. Look at the words: "talk about them", "speak about them", "write them down", "tie them on". That's a lot of talking and reminding! Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation about something you could care less about? An hour seems like eternity. It feels forced, dry, boring, and uninspiring. I think God is onto something here. We know that our God is always about the heart. He is always about authentic love and worship. Look at the command again. Talk about His Word ALL THE TIME. So we have two choices. Make a rule and follow it or find a way to live it!

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks
(Matthew 12:34b)

If my mouth is to overflow Jesus to my children, the only way to do that is to have a heart that is overflowing! I am finding that the best way to teach, love, parent my children is to invest in my relationship with the Lord. It is amazing how my parenting changes based on where I am spiritually. The little things stay little things and the big things where they should be. I have things to talk about with my children because I am chewing on things for myself. I have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control because I am full of the Holy Spirit. So when I try really hard to be a good Mom and disciple my children I feel burned out. But when my relationship with the Lord is vibrant, being a Mom like that seems natural. It's not perfect, I'm not perfect, but I can see it. I have a glimpse of what God has available for me. The wonderful part is that it's not hard work in front of me, but lots of amazing time with Jesus and His Word. Being with Him changes me. And experiencing Jesus disciples my children. Does that mean when I don't "feel it" I don't teach it? No, but I know the fruit of overflow is much juicier!

This leads me to think about the Romans 10:15 verse. How will my kids know His Word and His Ways without me telling them? What does that mean? What do I talk about? The direct application of Deuteronomy addresses His words in the Bible. Our kids need to know what path leads to life and what path leads to death. They need to know God and His character. They need to know His commands and widsom. But not only do they need to know His Words, they need to know Him. My heart longs for my children to know God. To really know God! To relate to God as alive and close! How do you teach a relationship? How do you teach a passion? You can't. You can try to explain it. You can give them reasons, ideas, rules, you can try to paint a picture. All those things are okay in their proper place. But what about a vision? How will they know? How will they know unless you show them? If being a Mom means letting my children know God out of the overflow of my life, this also means I am one of my children's most important resources for seeing what that looks like! Think about it. We want our children to repent...quite often! But what if they have never seen it? We can explain it. They can understand it the structure of it. But what if we give them a vision for it! What if I come and repent before my children when I get frustrated, impatient, unjust? What if I genuinely ask for their forgiveness? They will see it. They will understand it. It will come alive for them.  

A revelation...

The Lord spoke so clearly to me in the "life with a newborn" season with Enoch last year. There were little to no large chunks of uninterrupted, child-free time with Jesus. I could feel it. I was aching for it. When Nick would take the kids for a bit so I could steal away with Him I would cry from the separation. I know that everyone's secret place looks differently and functions differently but this is a peak into mine. I need to worship, a lot. I need to pray in the Spirit. I need to read His Word. I need to listen to Him and cry out to Him. I need those things. They are my supply. But what if it's just not physically possible? What can I do? "Lament" was my first choice! But then the Lord spoke:

"How will they know unless you show them?" 

You want me to worship, cry, and seek God in whatever way the time calls for right in front of the kids while they play and scream and chase the dogs? Yes! But Jesus, don't you know I like to have the right setting and atmosphere? Don't you know I have to be alone? It finally clicked for me. They have to see it. Yes, my oldest was only 3, but it's not too young!  I might tell them I love Jesus but how much more powerful for them to see what it looks like when Mommy is with Jesus! My time with Jesus looks different than our family worship time, it just does. And even though I don't expect my kids to be carbon copies of what they see, it gives them a vision. It brings His Words to life. It's another way to speak His Word. Okay, Jesus I'll try it. It was a challenge at first. Lots of distraction! For some of you, you may thrive on the chaos, not me! And even though they mostly preferred playing nearby to joining me, they saw. And it was now their normal. This is life. We teach His Word because we live it. Mommy teaches us about Jesus because she knows Him. Now, 9 months later, I revisit this again. Newborn season is over. It's not hard finding time alone now. But the time I have is before the kids wake, during nap, and after bedtime. So Jesus throws me a curveball..invite Nora to stay up late. Really? Today? I'm so exhausted and Nora is part of the reason! Okay...fine...I'll do it. So Nora stays up and helps me clean the house (mostly because she just doesn't want to go to bed). Then it's time. My guarded, treasured, desperately needed time....and now I'm not alone! You'd think it'd be easy. Just "act normal". It stretched me.  Dance like no one's watching? Sure...when no one's watching! But by God's grace I did (eventually!).  We danced, we worshiped, we prayed. As I was on the floor crying to the Lord about something, Nora came and lay her head in my lap. Her little lips moving and her eyes closed. She was praying, singing, praying in the spirit with me, joining her heart to Jesus and her Mommy. Then she fell asleep, peacefully, in my lap. What a treasure! What a gift! I lay my hands on her and prayed my little Mommy heart out for this precious girl! It's so easy to get lost in the sea of wet panties, spilled food, and messy toys. But when you have those moments where you experience what this abundant life in Jesus is all about you get it. For me, this is Deuteronomy 6.

How can they call on him unless they believe in him? How can they believe in him unless they hear about  him? How can they hear about him unless someone preaches to them?  
Romans 10:15  NIrV

The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9