Ode to moms: helpful links

I don't have children of my own. Most women who keep blogs write about this important aspect of who they are in Christ, the role of Mom. Since I do not have children I would not presume to write about children or parenting or motherhood. I do teach children all day long and that's been my main career in life, but that is not the same as parenting. However I know that many women read the blog, and may have parenting concerns.

I began teaching in 1983 and with a break for some years I took it back up 9 years ago. There has been a palpable decline in the family quality of childrens' lives over the past 34 years since I began working with children and families through my career in education. I see the culture's drastic effect on children, I see the fractured family's effects on children. I cannot imagine being a parent in this day and age, fraught with the evils, false religions, liberal doctrines, and general chaos and trying to protect your child. I'd go insane with worry!

God cares deeply for children and intact families. How many Bible verses talk about protecting this most vulnerable demographic in society? Many! The orphans, the fatherless, or the children are spoken of in scores of verses throughout the Old Testament to the New.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. (Exodus 22:22)

So with that, here are some links I've seen last week regarding children, parenting, and the issues moms say moms face. I hope you find them beneficial. :)

Nancy Guthrie has some Divine Words for Desperate Parents

We can teach our child the Scriptures, but we can’t be the Holy Spirit in our child’s life. ... But anyone who’s been a parent for long knows parenting requires a lot more than simply following the right steps to success. To raise a child toward godliness, we need much more than the good advice parenting experts have to offer. We need what only the Scriptures have to offer.

Jennifer at One Hired Late In the Day is entering her 18th year of parenting and has some thoughts about How Our Faith Influences Our Parenting

Rachel over at the Danielthree18 blog wrote a good piece today examining whether or not it is wise for Christian parents to send their kids to public school with the idea that they be salt and light to the unsaved. She has some excellent points and food for thought, so please be sure to click on this link and read her essay. Her post prompted me to examine again the decisions that my husband and I have made regarding our own children and their education. Parenting is one of the most important roles that God gives to us, and I know that I am not alone in having a deep concern for my children and whether or not I am making the right decisions for them and most importantly, pleasing the Lord in how I am raising them. 

I have written before about shepherding the minds and hearts of our children. For today’s post, I thought I would expand on that a little bit and give you some insight into our strategy of Christian parenting.

My friend who is mom of an infant recommended this Christian Living book on Facebook, and it does look very good.

Mom Enough

Are you mom enough?  

The cover of Time Magazine asked this haunting question in bold red letters that hung over the startling image of a young mother breastfeeding her four-year-old. When the issue hit newsstands it re-ignited a longstanding mommy war in American culture. But it turns out this was the wrong question, pointing in the wrong direction. Here is a higher and more essential question faced by mothers: Is God God enough? 

This short book by eight women explores the daily trials and worries of motherhood. In the trenches, they have learned (and continue to learn) how to treasure God and depend on his all-sufficient grace. The paradox of this book is the secret power of godly mothering. Becoming mom enough comes as a result of answering the question, "Are you mom enough?" with a firm no.

Here's Jen Oshman with the question, What if We Kept Doing Family Devotions after Advent?

But first, let me encourage you: no one's family worship time is pretty everyday.  If your kids are poking one another with their toes and screaming out for justice, if they are picking their noses and looking at the ceiling fixture, or if they are rolling around on the floor and feigning interest, then you're doing it right (all three of these things happened in our Advent reading time during one single evening this week).

I am on Pinterest, but I hate Pinterest. I find it awkward, clumsy, and useless (in the constant pinning and never actually getting TO the thing you want to cook/make/read/knit). I also think it is satan's way of encouraging defeat in moms, by presenting a highly skewed picture of life that no one can really match up to. With that in mind, here's a meme I found enjoyable this week:

Missionary to the cannibals in the New Hebrides, John G. Paton, revered his mother and father. He wrote how he learned to submit to the will and sovereignty of God through listening to his mother pray. His mother's faith, her lifetime of devoting herself to the good of the family, and to prayer, along with his father's teaching and faith, gave Paton his foundation and sustained him throughout terrible trials at the hands of the cannibalistic pagans he'd sailed across the world to serve.

How do you claim the promises of God for protection when your wife was equally faithful but, rather than being protected, died; and when the Gordons on Erromanga were equally trusting in those promises and were martyred? Paton had learned the answer to this question from listening to his mother pray, even before he leaned the theology that supports it. When the potato crop failed in Scotland, Mrs. Paton said to her children, "O my children, love your Heavenly Father, tell him in faith and prayer all your needs, and he will supply your wants so far as it shall be for your good and His glory" (p. 22) (source)

Pure Flix is a streaming movie site with Christian and family-appropriate movies. Moms, I know it can be hard to find shows and films you trust enough to show your children. Start here. The Pure Flix About page states,

Our mix of family-friendly & wholesome entertainment includes movies for all ages, kid’s animated titles, documentaries, how-to’s, hobbies, educational, health & fitness, sports, outdoors and travel plus many inspirational and devotional titles. It’s all delivered in the highest resolution possible and with a user-friendly viewing experience. We provide a wholesome viewing experience for your entire family that is fun, entertaining, inspirational, and educational.

Moms, please know that I admire you and pray for you. Your job is one of the most important in the entire world.