My Journey to Becoming a Christian Mom

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:4-7

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” Abraham Lincoln

 

  • Call your prayer partner for your 10-minute prayer call. Keep trying to connect until you get to pray together. This tiny habit of praying with a friend regularly will truly change your life!
  • Start your day with God. Grab your Bible, your journal, and a pen. Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word and learn about the importance of a Christian mom.
  • Read Deuteronomy 6:4-7. Write these verses in your journal.

Many years ago, when we were expecting our first baby, I started having pre-term labor. They put me on bedrest to try to stop the contractions. I was only twelve weeks along!

I remember feeling anxious at the thought of spending months on the couch with lots of time on my hands and nothing to do but lie on my left side and count contractions, so I decided the one productive thing I could do during this time was read. This potentially depressing season turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of my life.

During this time, I began to read the Bible more than ever and learned new things about what it means to be a Christian. I read the Old Testament, Proverbs, Psalms, and all about the life of Jesus. The Bible was starting to make more sense to me because I was regularly spending time with God.

I read books that taught me about Christian motherhood by authors like Ruth Bell Graham, who was committed to her children and raised them up to serve the Lord with all of their hearts. I also read wonderful biographies about women like Susanna Wesley (the mother of John and Charles Wesley), who diligently prayed for her children an hour each day with an apron over her head. Her children knew not to disturb their mama when she was praying. She also spent one-on-one time with her 10 children every week, teaching them about God and Scripture memorization. I saw the beauty of life as a Christian mom, the unlimited potential and importance of the Christian home, and the joy of raising godly children.

I remember reading Deuteronomy 6 for the first time, and I became convicted about teaching my children about God:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

From then on, I found myself on a quest to learn all I could from the Scriptures, spending time with Christ-centered moms, and reading life-giving books. I remember going to older women’s homes and crying because I deeply wanted what they had—a Christian home. I was learning but still felt like I didn’t know what I was doing because I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I decided to put my whole heart and soul into learning all I could about raising up children who love Jesus. I was hungry to learn as much as possible, and I constantly asked God for help.

Now, 28 years later, I am still learning more every day about how to be a Christian mom at each stage of my adult children’s lives. I am now in a season of letting go, but I still seek the Lord for wisdom and grace each day to know how to love well. I still make mistakes from time to time, but I know God is with me. With that knowledge and the abundant grace that my kids give me, it helps me to keep going. As moms, we are always learning and never outgrow our need for the Lord to teach us what we need to know.

Thankfully, we have a loving God who longs to help us every step of the way in motherhood! “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9a NASB).

God promises to “strongly support” you in your endeavor to raise up children for the Lord. Ask Him to give you everything you need, and for understanding as you read the Scriptures. Pray for God to lead you to life-giving Christian women who can help you learn what you need to know. Ask for discernment to help you stay away from legalistic and worldly philosophies.

A good rule of thumb is this: if what you’re reading makes your heart angry or causes you to turn away from your children or husband, it’s not life-giving wisdom. Any philosophy that seems legalistic or makes you feel upset or hopeless towards your family is not productive, in my opinion.

Below, I have listed some of the books I read and enjoyed immensely. They encouraged me in my hunger to be the best Christian mom I could be.

“Seasons of a Mother’s Heart” by Sally Clarkson

“For the Family’s Sake: The Value of Home in Everyone’s Life” by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

“What is a Family?” by Edith Schaeffer

“Prayer’s for a Mother’s Day” by Ruth Bell Graham

“Coffee and Conversations with Ruth Bell Graham and Gigi Graham Tchividjian” (I love all of Ruth’s books!)

“Hints on Child Training” by H. Clay Trumbull (written in 1892 by Elizabeth Elliot’s Grandfather)

“Diapers, Pacifiers, and Other Holy Things” by Lorraine Pintus

“15 Minutes Alone with God” by Emilie Barnes

“More Hours in My Day” by Emilie Barnes (I love her books!)

“The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. (There are also love language books to understand your child and teens love language)

As always, the best book ever is the Bible, and the best teacher is the Holy Spirit. You can learn everything you need to know there. I look at the other books as side dishes to my main meal of the Scriptures.

 Questions to Ponder

  • What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you about in today’s study? What stood out to you?
  • Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the thought of raising up children for the Lord? I believe it’s common to feel like you don’t know what you are doing in this area of motherhood. Ask God to help you to be intentional with your children and to show you one thing you can do now to start discipling your children. Write your thoughts in your  journal.

Faith-Filled Ideas

Write this verse on your bathroom mirror in a dry-erase marker: “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9a NASB). Each time you see it, let the truth of this verse remind you that God will help you to be the best Christian mom you can possibly be!

Put a jar at your table filled with a few little treats your children like to eat. Take 10 minutes to read a simple Scripture passage to your children from an easy-to-read Bible after dinner three days this week. Giving your children a treat every now and then helps them to see Bible time together as a sweet time.

Workers at home 4

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Join the Conversation: Share one idea which helps you teach your children about God.

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Deb Weakly

14 Comments on “My Journey to Becoming a Christian Mom”

  1. Thank you for this article, I was looking for more information on how to move forward as a Christian mom. intentionally making choices each day to make a happy home that loves the Lord.. seems like a hard thing to do these days. Thanks for the scripture!!

  2. This was so encouraging to me even though i was raised by believers. I especially liked that scripture you shared because I had never though of it in light of motherhood and the Lord “strongly supporting” my desire to raise children in His ways. Thank you! Also a long time ago i heard a preaching about our allegiance being to the Lord and i was reminded of that with this scripture. thank you!

  3. Thank you so much for this article. It encouraged me so much. I just started reading the book Hints on Child Training. Oh my goodness…with 8 kiddos myself it has been such a sweet reminder to not lose the purposefulness of child training and to honor each child’s individuality. Convicted over my lack of tenderness with them in order to just “get the job done”. Thank you for your reading recommendations. So helpful!

  4. The advice about staying away from books that make you feel angry or resentful toward our husband or children is so true. I’ve learned over the years too if it doesn’t bring life to my heart not to read them. Reading your story encouraged me Deb!

    1. Amen MariJo! It’s so easy to become negative when we read books that cause us to feel resentment or anger towards our husbands and kids. No bueno!!

  5. Deb, I just love this study again! To start, the verses from Deuteronomy you used are one of my top favorites and they have a special place in my heart because we used some similar ones from Deut in our wedding ceremony! Also, I love how you point out that we go through different seasons in our life and that God will take us through each challenging time if we are just faithful to him! Lastly, one way I teach my children about God is to simply pray and have them hear me! It’s such an easy way for them to witness how to talk to God and connect with Him themselves. My son is already becoming quite the prayer warrior!!

    1. I love that Kristall! What a great idea! That’s such a simple idea to pray and ask God to help your children hear you. You have such a beautiful faith and are such a great mom!
      I am so thankful for you!

  6. Great ideas! But I’m correct in inferring that the children eat candy while you read Scripture, not just stare at the candy in jar? (=

    The Trumbull book sounds interesting. It’s only 99 cents on the Kindle!

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