Photo credit: rickkennedy
This post is written by contributing writer, Kat.
The Story
Several years ago, I went to the grocery store with my first baby.
She was sitting in a cart that had been sterilized to surgical specifications by my vast supply of wipes and cleaners. She played with a toy that would stimulate her intellect and while shopping, I spoke and interacted with her, ad nauseum, as every new, over achieving mom does.
When I reached the cereal aisle, I found, much to my wanna-be Type A chagrin, that they had rearranged the cereals. As I searched for the items on my list, I took a couple steps to the right, away from the cart. And my baby girl.
Unknown to me, a large, impatient man came up behind me. Apparently, incapable of waiting his turn, he put his hands on my cart, where my baby was innocently sleeping. He stepped between me and my girl and began moving her AWAY from me, so he could squeeze in and get his box of cereal.
Cue new mama syndrome.
I REALLY didn’t care if he was a big, baldheaded, tatooed biker man who could squash me with his pinky.
Dude was in T-r-o-u-b-l-e.
I pulled my baby back, looked up (way up) at him and said, “You do NOT want to do that.” Then, more politely, “Let me go ahead and get out of your way.”
I was furious. I had no fear. Do NOT get between this mama and her baby.
Goofy story. Important point.
Sometimes it’s ok to be angry.
Our issues, our junk, our baggage all drive a wedge between us and our children. Between us and God.
When we see our children in danger or afraid, we transform. We have no fear, no limits. We feel invincible and ready to crush anything that gets in our way. The love within us empowers us to fight what is in front of us. Without hesitation.
Part of our job as mothers is to train our children; to build their character. But the other part of our job is to train ourselves; to build our character. We must intentionally name, face, and take down those things in us that would pull us away from a life lived radically for God. We must tear down the idols.
Because there’s also good chance that our junk will be our kids junk. Our issues unresolved will trickle down into our children’s lives and hold them back from fully pursuing Him.
That makes me furious. Passionate.
So if I have to get up at 5:30am to fall at the feet of Jesus and let Him scrape off my rough edges, if I need to take the Light of His Word into my deepest darkest places, if I need to surrender my dreams for His, if I need to ask Him to use the hammer and chisel on my heart… bring it.
I will let nothing – not my past, not my failures, not my insecurity, not my pride, not my fears, not my ambition, not my condemnation, not my guilt – I will let nothing come between me and Him; between me and them. Between Him and them.
They are worth it. He is worth it.
What in your life that needs to go? Name it and take it down.
Something I am convicted of often! Thanks for the great reminder! Nothing as humbling as seeing your weak areas coming out in your children!
This was a blessing to read Kat ;o)
Thank you for sharing it all; the picture, the italics, the bold text, EVERYTHING!
You illustrated your point perfectly, thank you again for letting the Lord use you, so HE can convict me, and possibly many more!
May the Lord bless you and yours!
Great post… as always.
Made me stop, think, and evaluate.
Hmmm… didn’t see anything as controversial in the picture. To use a commentor’s phrase, “I believe part of a Christian is…” to believe the best FIRST, and give benefit of the doubt when you find yourself offended. Instead of seeing something as a offense right when your emotion rears up, look at the person you see it coming from. What kind of character do they have? Do you believe in their good will? Most people don’t set out to offend others. I have to remind myself of this alot… especially in my marriage.
Excellent reply!
I love this post!!
Loved this post! I totally identify with protecting my children from what is out there. I love this blog because it brings together many things that I love. . . . being a mother, loving our Savior, loving my children, living healthy.
Love this!
This was short, sweet, to the point and makes a great lesson and point.
I absolutely love this post and is so relevant to my life right now.
Thank you.
Loved the post, had a real problem with the photo. I believe that part of being a Christian is to see past sterotypes. Using this picture to illustrate “dangerous bikers” simply reinforces a steriotype from I must say,a rather smug, middleclass perspective. Those patches on the jacket tell a story: those men are Vietnam combat veterans who served our country. The gentlemen on the right is also a retired police officer. Hardly the sort that should cause you to swoon & clutch your pearls should they come riding into your neighborhood. It is a shame to use them to illustrate what was otherwise an excellent story about responding to perceived danger & strengthening your bond with the lord.
Meda,
My sincerest apologies that the photo I selected gave that impression. I only meant to depict that the man at the grocery store was big, strong and tough – just like these men.
I should have been more clear that I in no way meant to say that he was dangerous or scary but rather that he was simply far bigger, far stronger and NOT they type of person a small, young mom usually has words with.
Also, the original title of this post had the word “Biker” in it, so the photo probably made a bit more sense when I submitted it.
We have friends who are bikers so I certainly do not associate bikers as being a dangerous group.
Again, my apologies for not being more clear.
Kat, Wow. Thanks again for reminding us that motherhood is more than just keeping our kids warm, fed, and injury-free. Thank you for giving us help towards it being a powerful position for the Lord. God bless you!
Also, I don’t find the photo offensive, however I’m not sure quite how it fits the post. They’re Vietnam veterans viewing some type of ceremony. Either way – not important to the message!
WOW. Loved this….I need to hear this [again and again....]. THANK YOU!!
Kat, I love everything you write, anywhere it gets posted!
You are so right here. I have actually been talking to my husband about this very issue! That’s what makes daily time in His Word and prayer so important–only He can enable us to do this well!
Loved this post. Thank you
Thank you so much for this post. It was exactly what I needed today.
Thank you. It’s been one of “those” weeks, and I sure needed to hear this message. I appreciate how you let yourself be used by the Spirit to minister to your readers. May the LORD continue to bless you as you serve him in this way!!
I think this was a great article. My dad is a “biker” and a pastor and I didn’t have a problem with the imagery in the post.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
What a great reminder, even something I can relate to even though I am not a mom.
wow…in the midst of a rather major confrontation with my baggage (mirrored back at me in stark and frightening ways by my sweet 4yo)…THIS is what I needed to hear. Thank you SO much.
Thank you for this! I really needed your post today. It comes on the heels of several days where I have felt I am a less than stellar mommy. I have felt anger, frustration and inadequacy creeping in. My heart has been touched. I am so encouraged! God has used you in a mighty way.
WOW! You hit that nail right on the head! Great Post. Instead of letting the enemy make us feel defeated, we need to fight – the good fight!
Thanks for this…I have been on this path to be a better parent, by seeking God’s face for instruction. This is my confirmation that it was time to do this and to keep spending more time with God.
And to those who think that there are italics in the wrong place, and subtle stereotypes, you missed the point entirely.
Hi…not sure if I’ve ever commented here, but wow. What a great post. For me, the thing that needs to go is anger. I was seriously praying about that this morning. It crept up on me, but it has slowly become a bigger and bigger problem. It’s staring back at me in the faces of my precious children when they interact with each other…when things upset them, etc. This is something that I refuse to allow to be passed down to them and ultimately their children. Thank you for letting us know that others are dealing with the same thing. It’s very encouraging.
This is momma bear mode. I know people talk about the fury of a woman scorned but wow….they’ve never stood between a momma and her babe.
Yeah you and I loved the post. 
Honey
Kat, you are so. hard. core. I love it. I need me some of that 5:30am bring it attitude..please share!! My girls are 2 and 9 months and I am dog tired…and totally using it as an excuse. My ongoing issue is lack of Joy in my life which stems from a lack of gratitude I think. I need to do more hard core praising all hours of the day and possibly starting a gratitude journal. Thank you for this post and this reminder. I’m right there with you mama bear!!!
@ Katie, I hear you on the joy issue. Here’s a link to a post I just did about finding joy in joyless moments, through finding Jesus in them:
http://devouringhisword.blogspot.com/2010/11/are-you-mary-or-martha.html
All the best on your joy journey!
A few points of CC to this article. As a reader I found all the text size changes, bold vs italics vs regular fonts overwhelming. A lot of the point was lost on me because I was focusing on the format. It wasn’t as clean and professional in appearance as I have come to happily expect from “Passionate Homemaking.” Secondly, I would be careful to avoid unfair stereotypes in your article. The suggested implication of the “type” of person moving your cart as the “biker” is more than a little insulting – even if he WAS in fact a biker. I know many wonderful persons – men and women of god, who live honest, hardworking, moral lives, who are gentle and fair but are BIKERS. I don’t think you intended it as an insult, but the resulting effect was more than a little ambiguous in nature. Descriptive terms like “tough guy” is less specific and less insulting. Also to whomever chose the image to go with the article, perhaps a more subtle scene would have been appropriate. For example a lioness sitting watch over her lion cub. Or of a woman pushing a shopping cart, with her baby inside. The direct association with the “biker” imagery only further exacerbates the stereotype issue made here.
That said, I say GO MOMMA for pouncing to protect your wee one. In today’s world there really is no such thing as “too careful” when it comes to guarding our children around strangers. I appreciated the less you had to share, and look forward to more of your contributions to “Passionate Homemaking.”
p.s. please feel free to contact me via email in order to respond to my reply.
I’ve mistakenly put the wrong email! I’ve updated it with this reply.
Thank you so very much for this post. It was just what I needed to read in a rough season. I’ve also linked this post on my blog.
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this post. It is exactly what I needed and right on time. Especially the part about 530 in the morning. That is what I need to do and I have been struggling with losing the sleep.
Thanks again.
One of the quirkiest inspirations I have read in a while! I enjoyed this so much that I linked up to it at devouringhisword.blogspot.com. Thanks so much for the new angle on this topic; it’s a keeper.
sorry… that wasn’t a hot link… here it is:
http://devouringhisword.blogspot.com/
And I kept the picture you chose, Kat. I actually kind of liked it, before I knew it was so controversial. smile.
A MUCH NEEDED reminder this morning. What a beautiful illustration and something I absolutely needed to hear. It has been a rough couple weeks in my home and I needed something to stop me in my tracks and point me in a different direction. This hit the mark. Thank you.
Wow! Thanks, Kat, for a great reminder. It brought tears to my eyes. I am going to print this as my reminder for when I am getting lazy in making sure I have my quiet time, that I need to let nothing get in my way.
I needed to be reminded of these things this morning. Thank you so much for sharing the Lord’s words!
God bless,
Sheila
Exactly what I needed to hear this morning! Thank you.
I’m with Becky, I lose control and yell, scream, spank out of anger, treat roughly and then I wonder why my 4yo tries to take a swing at me as I am dragging her to her spot so she can cool down before I talk with her about her disobedience. She learns it from me! Very humbling and sobering when you realize this. I recently read your e-book about maximizing your morning and have been getting up for the past week (give or take a few days, still working on the weekends). Thanks!
always excellent content here. Love the variety – from homemade lip balm (something I’ve been wanting to do for years – guess I was just waiting to learn about it here!) to confirmation of what the Lord is working on in my heart this month. Thanks for all the hard work on this site!
This post is a blessing – something I really needed to hear as I deal with pain from my mothers actions. It needs to go! Thank you!
Short, sweet and very much to the point! A very good post (and amusing, too!).
Thank you for this encouragement. It’s all too easy to let my quiet time with the Lord go by the wayside in these bleary-eyed years of early motherhood. Now that my youngest of four has turned one year old (and sleeping through the night!), I am slooooowly and steadily reclaiming much needed precious time in the Word!
This is something that I have been thinking about for a while now. I’m trying to teach my little boy to not throw temper tantrums, I have a hard time controlling anger myself when frustrating situations come up, and my mom was not the most patient person either. I am getting better about not freaking out or losing it when problems happen, but reading this has put a new light on it and I’m going to keep on working on this area and keep trying to model our heavenly Father to my son. Thanks for this much needed post!