It’s not easy being a child these days.
I listen to them talking around tables, gathered in groups at restaurants; watch their characterization on television shows and movies. I wonder if we understand as well as we think we do what it’s really like to grow up during this season. Sometimes it seems that so much has changed, today’s children live in a different world than the one I grew up in. The hurried, harried pace of it all wearies me as a mother, and I can only imagine its effect on this generation which has known nothing else.
As the world’s raging current rushes past our homes, what happens inside?
Are we creating spaces of peace for our children? When they come to us with the hard questions about the difficult things in life, do we have real answers for them? Are we well-equipped to buffer the young ones from the onslaught of the world even as we prepare them to make their way–and even overcome– in it?
They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. And I do believe this is true when we think about what our children really need from us as mothers.
They don’t need sweet platitudes of faith that will momentarily placate their emotions. They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical worlveiw and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today’s storms and tomorrow’s and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lived day in, day out; so they will have a pattern to follow.
The process of providing such gifts to my children is what I’ve come to think of as the ministry of motherhood. I believe it’s central to the calling of anyone God has privileged to bring children into this world.
If you are a mother, it’s your ministry too.” ~from The Ministry of Motherhood
How do you feel about the ministry of motherhood?
This is wonderful! The Ministry of Motherhood is truly one of our highest callings!
It’s so easy to dismiss our children’s problems as inconsequential. I appreciate that you say it’s not easy to be a child these days. Because it isn’t and when we as parents gloss over our kid’s needs and concerns when we “momentarily placate their emotions” with “sweet platitudes” we deeply hurt them and our influence on them.
I am learning right now that our society affects everything, including basic things like taking meals together. In our home we have always valued dinner time as “our” time. The more I read about the rushed pace of life and the inability of kids to focus and really think, it saddens me knowing that this is going to be the next generation without intentional parenting. Homeschooling has blessed us in so many ways that we never realized, including slowing our lives down. God, in His goodness, preserved our family when this young mom had no idea what she was doing. God is good!
Sarah had some good words!
We also try to keep a slower pace of life. Overstimulation, which is a defining word for our culture, is something we try to avoid. My heart is to create a haven in our home. That it would be my families favorite place in the world to be.
I do that by keeping the house orderly, trying to keep an atmosphere of joy, laughter and peace, and of course by making lots of good food
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Sally, you’re so right.
The pace we set and the home/culture we develop when our kids are little marches on throughout the teen years in our homes.
Your book – The Mission of Motherhood – echos a big ‘yes’ in our spirit as mothers. Most of us want to do what’s right – but that ‘raging current’ pulls us away.
Thank you for writing what I consider to be a modern-day classic. I’d love to have a hardback copy of The Mission of Motherhood someday to leave for my descendants.
Thank you for getting to the core of motherhood – it’s living out our faith daily, in the good times, hard times…