A Mother's Heart

When I was pregnant with Joel, the wife of my Dad's assistant pastor, Chris Maloney, sent me the book, A Mother's Heart (by Jean Fleming, NavPress). Little did I realize the impact that would have on my life. Growing up in a family with praying parents is an incredible blessing. As a young mom I had a great desire to pray for my children, but as Jean Fleming writes, I didn't always have clear direction on what to pray, beyond "God bless Charlie." Mrs. Fleming's book gave direction on things to pray for my children. It included things like praying that your children will become children of the kingdom, credits to the kingdom, and promoters of the kingdom. That's something I began praying for Joel at the time of his birth. I believe it was that book which suggested a mom pray that her children be caught doing wrong. A great mom prayer! I'll never forget the time Joel called me during his college years and in the course of the conversation shared how someone suggested he speed on a certain road because "there are never any cops on that road." He proceeded to inform his friend that there may not be any cops, but his mom prays that he would be caught doing wrong!! So glad he shared that with me.

The book also suggested that I begin praying for his spouse. Praying that she would be a woman of godly character, that she would desire to serve the Lord, that she would be the woman of God's choosing to assist Joel. And so I did. Of course, when Steven joined the family, I began praying the same things for him. At Joel and Jenn's wedding I was thinking of how wonderfully the Lord answered that prayer for both my boys.

My boys are opposites in many ways and their wives are as well. But, both of the gals love the Lord deeply. Both of them have a desire to serve Him with their lives. Both of them are uniquely created by the Lord to be helpmeets for Joel and Steven. Both of them are very gifted and talent young ladies. Both of them are beautiful women, inside and out. I am grateful the Lord moved us to NC so that Steven and Dawn could meet and moved Jenn from Wisconsin so that she and Joel could meet. What an awesome God we serve.

As I was looking at the photos Bob's sister, Linda sent us (see above. Thanks, Linda!), I thought not only of Chris's gift of a wonderful book, but her introducing my mom to Precept Bible Studies. I don't remember if Mom knew of my frustration with Bible studies that I was attending or not, but I will be forever grateful for her directing me to Precept studies. As a young mom, I found the Bible studies that I attended to be rote and simplistic. I had a hunger for God's word that wasn't being satisfied by "fill in the blank" studies that I found I could do without even reading the passage. (Oh boy. Confession time. I decided one year to see if I could answer the questions in a study without ever reading the assigned Bible. Unfortunately, I could. I grew up in the church, attended Sunday School, memorized scripture and we had regular family devotions, so I knew much about the Bible. The studies I attended never satisfied that longing to know God, or taught me how to be able to understand His Word. I had many questions that hadn't been answered, but didn't have the tools to study and find the answers to my questions.) However, one Precept study and introduction to studying the Bible line upon line and precept upon precept changed that and changed me forever.

And so, even though I have not lived in the same town as Chris since I went off to college, her life has impacted me dramatically. A simple gift. A simple choice to study the Word. We often never realize the impact our lives have on others, for good or for evil. We may forget the word we spoke, the gift we gave, the suggestion we made. But God takes those things and uses them to build into our lives the things that He desires.

O Lord, lead my steps.
May I walk only in the paths of your choosing.
Guide my words.
May the words of my mouth always be pleasing in your sight.
Direct my choices.
May they be of eternal value.
Use my life.
May it be lived for you and you alone.