Faithful Motherhood: Planting Seeds and Trusting God for the Harvest

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Chapters

• 2:25 Welcome Back & Family Updates
• 3:55 Entering A New Season Of Motherhood
• 6:31 The Window Of Influence
• 9:26 Time As Love And Trust
• 12:13 Stories That Shape Character
• 15:17 Aim High, Sow By Faith
• 18:20 Prayer And Encouragement

Transcript

Audrey: 1:13

Hello and welcome back to Grace for My Home. I'm Audrey McCracken, and what a pleasure it is to be back with you again this week. I hope that you're doing well. We've been busy and traveling every weekend, it feels like. About two weeks ago, my husband and I had an opportunity to go to Asheville, North Carolina, and we visited friends near Waynesville and just had a great time, just the two of us. And then this past weekend, we took our middle son, Luke, to Newberry College to tour their football facility, and that was great. We were able to stay for a game and just really enjoyed that. And if nothing else, we just really enjoyed spending time with him. Because, you know, sometimes when you're so busy and you have multiple kids, it's hard to give them one-on-one time, especially when they're just as busy as you are. And he is. He's got a lot going on. This is his senior year of high school. So it gave us an excuse to get away and spend some time together. The weather here is turning cooler, which is really nice. We live in South Carolina near the near the coast. So we we get seasons, we get all the seasons, but sometimes, you know, when we want it to be cool because it's fall, um, it's not cool. Sometimes it's like still humid, still hot, but this week it seemed to turn the corner. We'll see. Some people call that false fall, but we'll see. Um, but overall, we're doing great, and I hope that you are too. I wanted to talk with you this week. I'm I'm gonna ramble a little bit, and so just bear with me. I have a few things on my mind, and I want to share those things with you because the things that have popped up this week, we are always, and I don't just mean me, I mean you too. We're constantly in transition. You know, as we when we finally think we have things figured out, things change, and you know, our kids grow, and and hopefully we're growing too, and we're becoming different people. And so, you know, I have these thoughts sometimes, and and I think, man, I really want to write that down because I want to share that because maybe it will help somebody else. But I'm in this season where, you know, we've transitioned out of homeschool. This is the first year, the first school year. Nope, I'm wrong. It was this, it's the second school year that I have not homeschooled. And see, I can't even remember. And so I'm in a transition there, and I'm learning who I am without being a homeschool mom. Um, I'm a former homeschool mom, and that that has been a huge transition for me because when you do something for so long, and we homeschooled for 12 years, when you do something for so long, it really does become a part of your identity. When people ask what you do, well, I'm a homeschool mom. Well, I can't say that anymore. Uh so you know, that's been a transition, and now my children, not only am I not a homeschool mom, but I am a mom of teenagers, of all teenagers, and one that will be 20 next year. And so it's it's a transition again, you know, trying to to find my place in this family and help, and my and my boys are trying to find their place in the world. All three of my children are trying to figure out what what God has for them, you know, what's the plan? Where should I go to college? What should I study? Um, and those those are big questions. I remember the transition from high school to college and the transition from college to the workforce, the real world. Those were two huge transitions for me and and for many people. And they're right in the thick of that. And so, you know, trying to help and guide them, it just brings up a lot of things. You know, it helps you to it, it helps sometimes to remember um the choices you made and you know, think, did I make the right choice? You know, I didn't always make the right choice, but hopefully I made enough of the right choices that in the end it all washes out. You know, we as moms, I think we, you know, you hear a lot of people talk about mom guilt, and that is such a real thing. And I think it's because in our hearts we want the best for our children, but there's no book that tells us what the best is. Yes, we have the Bible, and people will say, Well, you've got the Bible, you've got the word of God, but the the Bible isn't just a is not a, it doesn't tell me specifically what to do in every situation. The Bible is a book of wisdom, it's God's word, he can speak to me through the Bible, but I still have to pray and discern his will for my life, and my children have to do the same. And that's that's how we walk with God. You know, if he just gave us all the answers up front, then we really wouldn't need him. We would have all the answers. And part of walking with the Lord is that we don't have the answers, that we have to constantly rely on him and and listen and be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. But I've I've been aware lately that there is a a short window of time when God has given moms and dads, but I speak mostly to moms, but where God has given us an open window to our children's soul, where we are where we have the most influence in their life. And that is such a precious time. You know, maybe if you have young kids, maybe it annoys you when older moms, you know, see you in the grocery store and says something, and they say say something like, Oh, enjoy every day. It goes so fast. And I just want to ask you to please be patient with us. Please give us grace if we say things like that. And I've heard that sometimes that can be annoying, so I try not to do it, but I'm thinking it. Because I think on our on the other side, like when kids start growing up and that window starts closing, we realize how precious that time was. And unfortunately, and I'm sure that God designed this on purpose, unfortunately, that's also a time when there's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of work to do for kids. And it seems like that window falls right at that time. And so it can be, it can we can easily get so caught up in the things that we forget the influence that God has given us into the lives of our children. And, you know, it's not that I don't have influence now, it's not that I can't speak into my children's lives, but as they mature, they naturally start making more of their own decisions and they don't come to me or think about, you know, what would mom or dad do in this situation? They come to us for the big things, hopefully they have been, but there's something about those young formative years when they look to you and think that you have all the answers, whether you do or not. And that's one of the reasons that on this podcast I talk about relationship, because the stronger our relationship is with our children, the more they trust us with their heart, the more they trust us with their questions, and the more they draw from us what we what we give to them. And so that that window of opportunity is such an important time in the lives of our children. And I I must say all of us, and I think that's part of where mom guilt comes from is we wonder, did we do enough? I don't know a mom who doesn't wonder, did I do enough? Did I do the right things? And do did I do enough of the right things? And I just want to tell you that it's all by grace. It's all by grace. You know, if we didn't need God in the raising of our children, then um, you know, if we if we didn't need God, if we had all the answers, then it would be for our glory. And it's not for our glory, it's for his glory. But our goal, one of our assignments as moms is to point our children to God, is to point them to the highest good and to give them hope that that is possible in this world. You know, we know the world that they're going into. Yes, their hearts are gonna be broken. So do we teach them not to love because people are gonna break their hearts? No, we teach them what real love is, we show them what real love is so that hopefully one day they'll recognize that. Um, and we teach them to forgive because their heart is gonna be broken. And we can't stop that. We can't prevent that. And we don't need to prevent that because if we don't let them feel those things and let them experience those things, then they'll be crippled. They have to learn those things on their own and how to navigate those emotions and and those hard times so that they can become mature people. And so we teach them, but we allow them to go. We allow them to go. You know, they're gonna run into people who are gonna try and take advantage of them. You know they are, and so do we teach them to hide? No, we teach them wisdom and we teach them discernment, and you know, we teach them to be careful, and you know, they're gonna go into the world um into a place where there's no moral compass. You know, there is no moral compass in this world, and they're going into that world. And so do we keep them at home so we can keep them safe? No, we give them a moral compass, we teach them right from wrong, we show them the way so that when we're no longer with them, they still know the way. And how do we do that? How do we do that, Audrey? How do we point them to the highest good? How do we point them to God? You know, how do we teach them these things? Well, one of the biggest factors is T-I-M-E, time. You know, we impart what God has given to us into our children during the time that we spend with them. And that's why time is so important. You know, I've heard people say, and I must agree, that children spell love T-I-M-E. And when we're with them, when we're um when we're living with them, when we're spending time with them, then we are able in a natural way to share with them the truth. We're able in a very natural way to help them through problems and to teach them things. And and that's that's our job. You know, that's why we're here. And they look to us for that. And that's not something that we can put off on somebody else or get someone else to do for us. God has put us in their lives to be the biggest influence in their lives. And how do we do that? Well, I just said by time with time, by spending time with them, but it's it's a process, it's little by little. We talk with them, we spend time with them, we build relationships with them, you know, so that our opinions matter to them. I'm sure you've heard the saying, nobody cares how much you know till they know how much you care. And that's so true with children. When they know that you have their back, that you love them, that you're gonna be there for them no matter what, then their ears are open to you. Their heart is open to you, and they they they trust you and they want to hear what you have to say. As we walk with God, as we allow God to deal with our hearts, that's so important, guys. It has to be real in our heart, or it's not gonna be real in their lives. As we allow God to do a work in us, I think of it as He's pouring oil into us, right? We spend time with Jesus and He's pouring in the oil. As we take in Jesus, as we learn and we grow and we have a living and a real relationship with Christ, then we have something to pour into our children. And as we do that, the life that God gives to us, it flows down to them as we share those things with them, as we share a lot with them. You know, as we tell them stories, as we read them stories, stories are very powerful. The stories that we share with our children, the examples that we we show to our children in stories and in real life, those things form their imagination. It forms the way they see the world, it forms the things that they see as important. You know, we we talk with them about things that people don't talk to too much about anymore. You know, we use words that people don't use too much anymore. Words like honor. You know, we teach them what it means to be a man or a woman of honor. We teach them about character and what it means to be a woman or a man of character, and that that means that we are men and women of integrity. Those are words you you don't hear much anymore, but they they're so important because it matters, it may not matter to their neighbor, may not matter to their friends, it matters to God. So we set the bar high, not so high that it, you know, sometimes we can set the bar so high that that they just give up because there's just no way I'm ever going to reach that. We don't set it that high. We set it high enough to be a challenge, but not to frustrate. You know, we just we encourage them in their walk with the Lord, we encourage them to become men and women of honor. We we try to be examples of that. And we teach them what God says, what he likes, what he is like, what he wants from us, what he expects from us. We teach him, we teach them God's word. And that's why that's where stories are so helpful. You know, the thing I love about stories, most stories do not have uh, they don't come out with a black and white moral, right? Um, a good story has a moral, but it doesn't come out and say, now the moral of this story, you know, it it lets you figure the moral out by what happens in the story, by the what happens to the characters. The ultimate, the ultimate goal isn't to know right and wrong. Okay, now that's a goal. That's an important goal is for your children, my children, our children, to know right and wrong. The ultimate goal is for them to love what is right. And that's one of the wonderful things I love about stories is, and I say stories, I mean books and movies and you know, fairy tales and things that we can share with our children when they're little, when that window is open, and those stories go in and they teach things far more powerfully than a list of rules. And stories, good stories, they feed the soul. They feed the soul. You know, your child is not just a physical creature. We are made in the image of God, and we have a body, we have a physical body, but we are so much more than a physical body. We have a mind, we have a will, we have emotions, and that part of us, that soul nature, it needs to be fed. It needs to be fed spiritual food. It needs to be fed on things that are good and true and beautiful, so that we can desire those things. And, you know, I I often think back and and I think about the stories that we read, and you know, and and I we did a we homeschooled for 12 years, and and I remember all of my children when they were young and they were learning to read, we read Aesop's Fables. And instead of telling them at the end, you know, if you've ever read Aesop's Fables, it tells you the it the fable, and then at the end it says the moral of this story is. And it was, I always, instead of telling them what the moral was, I would ask them, what is the moral of the story? You know, we'd read the story and what is the moral of this story? And they would come up with something. Sometimes it was close to what the book said or what I thought, and sometimes it wasn't. But that helps them to develop wisdom. It's not what mama says, you know, it helps them to learn for themselves what is right and what is wrong. And I'll tell you a funny story about that. And I don't know if I've shared this on the podcast before. I've done like 150 episodes, over 150 episodes. So sometimes I forget what I've shared. But I remember Caleb, my youngest, when he was young, and we were reading through Aesop's Fables, and we read the fable of the little boy who cried wolf, and how you know, twice he went out into the village and cried wolf, and everybody ran and they were scared. And and um, and then the third time when he ran and cried wolf, nobody paid attention, but there really was a wolf. And I remember at the end of that reading that parable to him, at the end of reading that fable to him, I said, Okay, now what is the moral of this story? And Caleb is so sweet. He looked up and he said, Come when you're called, no matter how many times. And I just I I tried not to laugh, but I just thought that was the sweetest thing. I thought, yes, honey, that is if that's what you think the moral is, then that's what it is today. And you know, and I didn't correct him because that's what he got from that parable. But that's how that's how we learn, you know, that's how we learn is we see the things around us, we observe the things around us, and we learn by what we see, and we learn by the experiences we have and the stories we hear. And it determines who you know who we are. And we as parents have that wonderful opportunity to put before our children the best, the good things, those things that are that are good, those things that will help them to desire to be the person God called them to be. And so you may hear all this and you may think, oh, dude, this is just way too much. This is just way too much. Well, I want to tell you, nobody does this perfectly, but there's something about having a goal that is good, that is above average, that is that is is aiming high, that even if you don't hit the goal, you've done better than you would be if you were just hit if you were just aiming for average. And so my my philosophy has always been let's aim for Jesus, right? Let's just believe God for miracles. And if I don't get miracles, at least I'll get something good. And so that was my goal and still is my goal. Lord, you know my heart. Um, I want to put before my children good things. Um, are they gonna go out in the world and see ugly things? Yes, but I want them to know that there is good in the world and that Jesus is that good. For years we used a Charlotte Mason curriculum, and one of my favorite quotes by her, and I'm not gonna get it exactly right, I didn't look it up, but I I'm going off of memory here, was that education is a lot like faith. It's the evidence of things not seen. And I I love that because for years as a homeschool mom, I just sewed. And I wondered, is this making any difference? Is this making any difference? But I continued to sow because I believed. And that's a lot like faith. You know, we do things by faith even when we don't see. You know, faith is the evidence of things not seen. So we do the right things, we teach the right things, we plant the right seeds, and we trust God for the right outcome. You know, if you rode by a field that had been freshly planted with seed, it may not look any different from a field that has no seed. Because the only thing different is the seed that's buried that you can't see. But over time, you know, there's that word again, time. In time, that seed will grow and it will pop its head out of the soil, and it will grow and you will see the difference. And eventually one field will have fruit and one field will not. And that's what it's like to be a mom. That's what it's like to sow into our children that we are planting seeds, they seem insignificant, they seem small. At first, you can't even tell the difference, but eventually, if we don't give up, what does the scripture says? We will reap a harvest of righteousness. And time makes all the difference. But you can't give up, you can't faint. Whatever you sow, you will reap. You are a farmer, precious mama. You're planting today what will only be seen later. And what you're planning is faith and hope and love. You're planting good seed. Don't stop, don't give up. Your children need you to believe in them before they are able to believe in themselves. We believe for our children before they are able to believe for themselves. You know, God has a good plan. He has a good plan for you, for your family. Pray for your family. Don't give up on your family, don't give up on yourself. I hope that in all of my rambling today, I said something that was encouraging to you. I love you and I I cheer you on. I cheer you on doing the work of the Lord, doing what God's called you to do in your home, in your family, in your community, in your churches, wherever your area of influence is. I pray that you would be encouraged today. Before you go, I'd like to say a prayer for you. Father, I thank you for these precious ones that they give so generously, Lord, of their strength, of their energy, of their time, Lord, of their resources. God, it it seems, Lord, hidden, but I thank you that it's not hidden to your eyes. And I pray for hope. I pray, Lord, that hope would arise. Lord, I pray for faith. I pray, Lord, for, Lord, fresh wind in their cells today. That Lord, they would be renewed with the hope that comes, Lord, by walking in faith. Lord, I pray that they would hear your voice again, that Lord, where it seems like you've been silent, that Lord, you would just so speak to their hearts and give them clarity and direction. And Lord, we just thank you. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you that you gave everything, Lord, so that we could be yours, so you could redeem us. And I pray, Lord, that we would live a life worthy of all you've paid for. And Lord, we just we give you honor in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless.