abandoned to Christ.

Parenthood. Biblical parenthood. There is a difference. The well-known phrase, "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world" is an abbreviated version of the refrain in a poem written by William Ross Wallace (1819-1881) that honors motherhood; but above what God decreed. The second to the last stanza reads like this, Woman, how divine your mission Here upon our natal sod! Keep, oh, keep the young heart open Always to the breath of God! All true trophies of the ages Are from mother-love impearled; For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world. A mother's love, acceptance, and discipline (or lack of all three) has an enormous impact on whether her children will learn between right and wrong. But she's neither the sole, nor sovereign influence on her children. How a father engages, or doesn't engage in his children's lives also plays a significant role on a child's demeanor. ...

Tomorrow, we'll celebrate another Mother's Day. For some, it'll be a day in which we have the opportunity to honor our mothers who love the Lord and taught us to do the same. For others, it'll be a day when we miss our mothers who are no longer with us, but have entered eternity with Christ, or grievously, without Christ. And for others, this Mother's Day will be a day where we're tempted to send cards filled with untruthful, feel-good sentiments and share posts on social media that describe a godly mother we never had/have. Regardless of what kind of mother we had/have, we're called by God to love and honor her... biblically (read: Celebrating A Different Kind of Mother  to find out how to practically obey this biblical mandate). Some, like me and my husband, were raised by mothers who worked hard to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. But sadly, neither are/were believers (my mother-in-law entered eternity without Christ🥺) However,...

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, a day where many mother's will be honored and celebrated by her children, husbands, other family members, friends and even some online friends the Lord has allowed. It'll be a beautiful day, but is this all that it's about? Is Mother's Day, a day only to honor our earthly mothers or be honored ourselves? Or is a day, another day we get to give thanks to God for His inexpressible Gift of Christ (2 Cor 9:15)? It's a tough question even for me to answer because like everyone else, I like to be praised, applauded, honored, appreciate and noticed. I like being made to feel special. Don't we all? About four years ago when I was in the midst of nearly daily doctor's appointments and serious and painful tests, I prayed to the LORD for help and He led me to a faithful sister in Christ, Rachel Barkey . Rachel, a wife and mother of two young children, fiercely battled breast cancer for more than four years. Only a few months...

For the past month our oldest son has been asking me what I want for Mother's Day. I've had no other ideas to offer him except one: that he aspire nothing greater than to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ; walk closely with Him and that love for the Almighty be preeminent in his life. I'm 45 now and I pretty much have everything I need or want. When you get to be my age, there's very little you desire that money can buy. The things that are most cherished are the things of the heart. And since Christ is my Lord and Savior, His Holy Spirit inhabits my heart and directs my desires to be more like Christ and less like I was pre-second birth (Rom 8:28-29, Gal 2:20). The desires of our flesh begin to wane as we draw nearer to the Lord Jesus. We begin to see things with the new spiritual eyes He gave us. And the things we treasure are no longer the things that satisfy our flesh. We begin only to long for the greater things—the things that ...

As Mother's Day fast approaches, my heart is heavy for the many who cannot celebrate with the joy and festivities that are often marked by this day: a special corsage for mom, adorned with mini-flowers representing every precious babe she has born. A special dress or hat, perhaps gloves or a sash. Breakfast in bed; a splendid day at church together; then off to a deliciously prepared lunch with all her favorites. Dinner out, if she desires, at her favorite restaurant, and of course, a scrumptious dessert follows. The entire day is spent with the sweet affection of her loved ones all around her, celebrating her tender, faithful, loving, sacrificial and gentle godly character. Her children and husband rise up and call her blessed (Prov 31:28-29) for her deeds and words prove she's a woman who, above all things, loves and fears the LORD God Almighty (Prov 31:30). Ahhh...isn't this just the picture perfect day? It's brimming with love and overflowing ...