Encouragement from my dad

My dad sent my sister Sarah and I this devotional/letter a little while ago. It was such an encouragment to me that I thought I’d share it with you, my readers, since many of you are in a similar time of life as we are (mothers of young children.) To break it up, I added a bunch of pictures of Dad with his grandkids.

On the devotional life of a mother of young children

Dear Rinnie and Sarah,

Spending time with you recently I was reminded of our own experiences in raising you and your siblings – the reality of a “good night’s sleep” being midnight to 6:00, of a “quiet time” meaning all the children are playing nicely with pots and pans, and a “good conversation” meaning several completed sentences with an adult or getting a glimpse into the mind of a child. This time in your life is not prime time for long devotions and the consistent kind of Bible study habits you enjoyed before you became mothers, but it can still be a time of learning to live by faith, see God’s provision, learn from Him, and deepen your relationship to Him as your Father in ways you could not do without the learning process of motherhood.

Don’t beat yourself up for things that are expectations applicable to those in other stages of life. When I was young I could eat vast amounts of food and got balanced nutrition primarily from volume. Now that I’m older, I have to be more careful about what I eat in order to get what I need without burdening myself with stored food I don’t need. Similarly there will be times in your life when you can read through the Bible in a year or read a gospel in one sitting, and you should rejoice when the Lord gives you those times. You may even be able to find a time when you can read a big “feast” while your kids are young. (Maybe you and a friend can take turns giving each other a morning off.) Treasure it when you can, but know that it is a feast and not the normal way you’ll feed on the Word for a while. History has seen more illiterate mothers in your situation in life than literate, and God says he’s provided all they need for life and godliness. So how does that work? Many didn’t have their own copy of the Bible in their home. They had to rely on the reading and exposition of the Word in worship and help from their husbands and others. Since God says he’s provided all they need for life and godliness, think of how much more he’s provided for you! How can you make use of those resources and the opportunities you have?

Here are some thoughts on making good use of your resources:

- Use family and couple devotions – can you and your husband find time to read and pray together (you might be folding laundry or nursing your baby)? Ask him to help you keep learning. This is a good time for his leadership to meet your need, whereas at other times he may have felt you had more time and interest to pursue Bible study and prayer. Use family devotions as a time for you to grasp basic truths you are teaching your children, and then ponder how to apply them in your own life and those of your children.

- In our educated culture we can think of worship as a presentation, and exposition of the Word as a theological lecture. Those up front need to get away from this in their leadership, but the part you can control is how you respond. Avoid listening as at a concert or college lecture, focused on the musical performance or absorbing information that may be on a test. Instead focus on offering your heart to the Lord and looking for what of Him you can come away with for the week ahead. Ask, “How is my Savior meeting me here and how can I grow in my walk of trust with Him?” If you take responsibility for your benefit, rather than leaving it to the leaders, you can grow even from mediocre music and poor preaching.

- Communities or families in the Old Testament could benefit by hosting a Levite as a teacher for them. You can do the same using your radio or recorded messages. Your mom listens to sermons on the web while ironing. When I hear certain preachers in my kitchen I know I’ll have wrinkle free shirts. Another way to host “Levites” is to open your home to itinerants like speakers at your church or missionaries. Many are away from their families and will enjoy your children (and are not there to inspect your housekeeping). What a privilege to have them talking and reading to your kids! One word of caution – I got interested in missions from stories told by missionaries visiting us, so you should be ready to see your kids go off in ministry somewhere when they grow older!

- We live in an information age when volume of information seems important, but people don’t know how to apply even simple truths consistently in their out-of-control lives. When your children aren’t small you can enjoy studying lots of Scripture or studying in depth and maybe lead a Bible study of women in similar situations. Right now God has positioned you to put more focus on applying basic truths by giving you students who are children and can excel in important concepts of trust, believing prayer, overcoming selfishness in obedience, believing what they know and applying it in their lives. Learn with and from them.

- Precise memorization of Scripture, complete with references, was great in High School and College days. Now you may need to be encouraged by the writer of Hebrews. He didn’t always quote the whole verse and made references like, “somewhere someone said.” Even Jesus quoted from Exodus 3 with the reference, “in the account of the bush”. Your references may be, “over my sink”, “on the fridge”, “right above the car radio”, “on the side of my mirror”. These are the contemporary equivalent of Deuteronomy 6 “bind them on your forehead and on your hands and teach them to your children when they come and go, at bedtime and on the way.” This is not compromising Scripture memory, but immersing it in the context over which God has given you “rule”.

Remember that the most important part of your devotional life with God is relationship, not volume or content. (The same is true of your husband-wife relationship which is patterned on this, a relationship also tested in its growth during these years busy with little ones.) What you need to seek in your times with the Lord is not always new information or insights, but new understanding of your Savior, trusting those truths and applying them in the here and now of your life. Your model is not the commentators, but Mary, who kept these things and pondered them in her heart.

Love,
Dad