When our daughters were younger, I would get in bed at night and assess the day – what could I have done differently, what could I have said in a more gentle manner, how could I have handled that squabble or difficult situation in a more gracious way? And every evening I realized that in some way I had come up short and that God would have to make it enough. And even though I tried hard to be a great mom, I often felt like I was an expert in messing up. Despite the peer-Mom pressure around me, I knew in my heart that mothering is not based on performance but on grace. If the core of my being was based on a random and demanding measure of performance, I would fall short every time. If the core of who I am is based on the very grace of God, I could trust in His redeeming. Being a Mom is not a competition but a daily expression of God’s grace. As long as I abide in Him, saturate myself in His Word, and follow Him into my day, I can trust Him for the rest. Only God can know what my children need. And as author Ann Voskamp says, “Grace stands in the gaps.”
Now that our girls are grown, I reluctantly cannot DO for them as I have done in the past. My role has changed. I cannot tell them what to do, but I can BE and live in such a way that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt Who is my Strength, my Shield, my Salvation, and by the His grace in me, they cannot deny that there is a God. Let the evidence of my life direct their hearts “that they would know that the LORD is God.”
Indeed, they are in God’s hands – where, in reality, they have been all along.
The easiest thing is to worry. The most dynamic thing is to pray. It is not a matter of telling God what to do in their lives, but thanking Him that He is already working with great transformational power in their hearts and lives, daily realizing for themselves His Presence and Power and Provision.
…but God gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3.6
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