Christian Mommy

 I was blessed to have been raised in a Christian home but my memories of it being Christ-centered on a daily basis are limited.  Most of my memories were wrapped around Sunday church and traditional customs. When I became a mom I wondered how I would incorporate the Bible and teach Isabelle about Jesus. I felt overwhelmed and lost because I really didn’t know where to start. I remember my pastor saying that we should pray for our children at all times, even when they are in the womb, so I started there. Belly big and full of life, I would pray for her in silence; praying that her little body would grow and develop as God intended. When she was born, I would pray over her crib when she would fall asleep.  Her gentle breaths filled me with ease as I knew God had brought her to me. As the days passed and she quickly turned from chubby faced infant to a long-legged two year old the amount of information she took in just amazed me.  ABC’s, colors, and shapes it seemed she grasped each new concept with such ease there wasn’t anything I couldn’t teach her! But still, I wasn’t sure how to be a Christian mommy and how to make sure I was laying the foundation for her to one day say, “I choose you, Jesus.” 
Our church had begun this new ministry called @Home  to help create God-honoring families at home. Last week, during announcements, they suggested becoming intentional with prayer at home using the 7-5-2 plan.  I realized that even though I was feeling alone in the process and without another woman’s example to follow, I wanted to be intentional about raising my daughter to know the Lord. I realized I had to first be an example. Isabelle would have to see me pray, see me read my Bible, and see me worship either in song or in word.  I also had to approach it in a way that was both educational (which I was very familiar with) and sincere.  
I decided I would utilize a morning schedule to do so. So for the first morning after brushing her teeth and washing her face I sat with her in our rocking chair and read her a few pages from “My First Bible.” It was a children’s Bible that was a very simplified version of the most important stories in the Bible. I read her a few pages which covered Creation, the fall of Man, and Noah’s Ark.  I read to her like I would have with any other book; discussing the pictures, asking her simple questions, and introducing characters. It didn’t take more than 20 minutes or so and after we were done, I let her go and play. Isabelle loved books so I knew this set up would work with her just fine!
So as to continue with my plan on being intentional, I set up to take a few moments for myself and read my Bible too (so that while she played she would see me reading).  I started off with the resources I already had, my Bible and a woman’s devotional I had received for high school graduation. I opened up to the last spot I had left off on, as there were notes and markings from my last attempts to get back into reading. The day’s devotional was written by a woman whose husband of eight years had left her and her two-year old son while she was pregnant with their second child. She openly talked about how alone she felt, abandoned, and unsure of what to do now that she was a single mom.  Of course, reading her testimony made me feel like a fool for feeling apprehension and intimidation as I approached this new “plan” of being a Christian mommy. I mean at least I still had my husband! But it was in reading this woman’s testimony, that I learned that even with a husband by my side, my job as a mother was mine and mine alone. No amount of resources and examples could lead me to becoming the mom God intended for me to be. Only God could…  and so her testimony lead me to this verse:

Day one and God was already laying down the foundation for the journey I was willing to take for the sake of my child! The fears I had did not matter, nor did the plethora of resources at my fingertips because God was the one leading this journey. It was God who would bless my intentions of becoming a better mom. 

I know there will be bumps along the road and days when I am the worst example of a Christian woman but I was reminded that He would never leave me or forsake me.  I will be okay because I have chosen God as my guide and His word as the resource…