Today we begin discussing our book study on The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. It is not too late to join in!
What rich encouragement this book has been providing me with in my pursuit of establishing a godly legacy!
I loved this quote from the first chapter:
“God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role. We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children. Through our teaching and influence, morality can be learned and modeled, love and kindness are taught and received, purpose and vision are ignited and passed on. The real ability of a mother to secure such a spiritual legacy is based on the strength of her relationship with her child.“
That just excites my spirit! What an amazing task lies before me. Motherhood is a means of glorifying God as we seek to give ourselves to our primary mission field. It is a journey like no other!
Here are some thoughts from the application section at the end of the chapter. I love how she draws me again and again to the Word of God and the ultimate truth on this topic.
Psalms 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
Sally shares that in the Old Testament, the word house often implied the same concept of the English words family or home. This struck me powerfully. Unless I fully rely upon the Lord to build, strengthen and establish our family, all my efforts will be in vain. I could have a perfectly managed family and yet still be a waste because Christ Jesus is not the center and source of all things. It’s not about me in the first place…it’s not about having the perfect training techniques, books or knowledge on hand. It’s about acknowledging my dependence upon the Lord and taking steps of faith with each investment into their lives…praying every step of the way that He would build my house and my family – for they are His first and foremost!
1 Thess. 2:7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.
The heart attitude of this mother is that she is tenderly loving and caring for the needs of her child. She is not consumed with her own needs, plans, to-do’s, but she first focuses on graciously, compassionately nuturing her children. My prayer is that the Lord would change my hard heart. I don’t want my child to be a burden because my plans are on the throne. I want to have fresh vision to see each denial of self to be a means of nuturing her soul into the Kingdom of heaven. My focus has been more often on ministry to others. when my first primary ministry is to my husband and child.
What stood out to you in this first chapter? Please feel free to share a quote, a prayer, or anything that the Lord has been challenging you with thus far.
LIndsay,
I’m about to use this book for a study at my church, and I’d like to use your posts to supplement it. I’m having trouble finding all of the posts though; could you please send me links to all of the posts, or tell me how to find them all? Thanks!
I just bookmarked this site. What an interesting post.
Wow, what a challenge and inspiration to focus on what God expects from mothers! I definitely love the way Sally points us back to God’s Word and doesn’t just state her opinions and experiences about things. She even gives practical ways to apply the things we are learning. I’m very thankful to be reading this book. (Lindsay, I just tried your granola recipe last night and it is fabulous! Thank you so much for your continued faithfulness to this blog.)
I appreciated how she just laid out what we should hope to impart on pg. 13 and 14, since I can get distracted with what the world would put most importance on (fashion, knowledge, money, etc.) . A spiritual legacy THROUGH my teaching, influence, modeling morality, love and kindness.
I also love that she loves being a mom. It’s refreshing.
Lindsay,
I am excited to join you in this book study. My book is supposed to arrive tomorrow. It sounds great. Can’t wait to read it.
This book is on my Amazon wish list! So I hope I’ll be joining in the book club soon. Like you, I am hoping for the Lord to change my heart so that I am more patient and gentle when my girls (2 yr and 1 yr) tend to “interrupt” my own plans of having a clean and organized house!
The Lord has been doing a great work on my heart already in allowing me to find joy in home-keeping, and see my role as wife/mother as a high calling. I no longer feel like I’m missing out on some other “important” work for the kingdom – this IS the best work I will ever called to be do for His Kingdom. And I am so passionate about helping other women catch this vision as well.
This book has been so encouraging as well as convicting for me too. I liked how real the author was in admitting her fears, how she said “As much as I loved my children, I often felt like a failure. Surely someone else could do a better job with this precious ones than I.” I have felt like this sometimes, when my oldest was little it was like she said “a honeymoon”, but now with a 4 1/2 and a 2 1/2 year old and dealing with their sinful hearts, their constant needs, my own responses… I have have gone to my husband and to God crying that I don’t want to fail at this (yes normally in that order and it should be the other way around.) But then, its not about me, it is God who has to build my home or all my work is for nothing anyway. I just need to keep seeking His way in raising these precious gifts that He has entrusted to me. I liked your thoughts on this as well, that its not about the perfect training techniques, how well we’ve managed our house, but our dependence on HIM.
Another thing that stood out to me was this statement: “My calling as a mother is the same as any other Christian’s: to fulfill God’s will for our lives and to glorify Him.” (and the next 2 paragraphs after that) That although motherhood and training my children as well as supporting and loving my husband, taking care of my home, etc. are His plan for my life, God still wants ME to grow into the person that He is wanting me to be. I have to use the gifts God has given me for His purposes and I have to be faithful in my walk with God.
“…being a mother encompasses all that is best within me.” I love this, I have said something similar to people when they’ve asked me how as a SAHM I haven’t gotten bored, or they make statements like “I don’t want to lose myself” or “be unfulfilled”– I feel like I have found more of myself and who God wants me to be, and I am more fulfilled in this calling. It really is exciting to know that this calling is from GOD!!
What stood out to me most in this chapter was in regards to the quote you noted about a “spiritual legacy”. God has been driving home the importance of this point with me recently – teaching me how as we teach and disciple our children according to God’s word and train them in godly ways we are not only creating a godly legacy for our own family, but we are gifting our children with an invaluable inheritance.
What we struggle with, the sins that tempt us, do not have to be the sins that tempt our children. A quick temper, an impatient spirit, by God’s grace, can be qualities that end in my generation. It causes in me this renewed desire to seek after God with my whole heart so that not only will I benefit, but my children will. And the inheritance they will receive as they welcome a new generation will be a blessed one indeed!
Willow – mom of three 5 and under. Nashville, TN
Lindsay, I am new to your blog, but excited to join in the book study! I’ve had this book for over a year, but had not read it all the way through yet, so this study is a great motivation for me to start over and get all the way through!
I did a lot of underlining in the first chapter! One of the quotes I really liked is this: “My calling as a mother is the same as any other Christian’s: to fulfill God’s will for our lives and to glorify him . . . ” (I won’t type out all of it, but that whole paragraph was a blessing to me. I also really got a lot out of the “thought and reflection” section at the end. Like you, I love how she brings everything back to Scripture.
I’ve enjoyed poking around your blog and I’ve subscribed in my Google reader now, so I look forward to reading more in the future! I especially enjoyed your homebirth story. I had my 3rd baby (2nd homebirth) in April and love hearing about other great homebirths!!