You Have Purpose in Every Season of Parenting

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

“I’ve read the last page of the Bible, it’s all going to turn out all right.” Billy Graham

 

  • You are so loved. Your life has great purpose, dear mama. Come and meet with your Creator. He has great things for you!
  • Write out Hebrews 13:8 in your journal. As you prepare for your devotion, take a minute to thank Jesus that He is unchanging and that He is always with you.

Motherhood can feel like a flurry of noses to wipe, lunches to pack, and practices to drive to. What will be left when the little ones you gave such a long season of your life to don’t need noses wiped or a ride to soccer practice anymore? Will you still know your life has great purpose and value?

Or maybe you are a mama that feels parenting has knocked your purpose off track. When I was just 25 years old, I had a successful career as a marriage and family therapist. My professional future was bright, but when I felt God call me to missions, I hesitatingly paused my career and boarded a plane for six months in South Africa. Almost immediately, I met a tiny, little boy who needed a mama in a bad way. I was single and living in a dangerous, rural region of the country. This sweet boy had no documentation—no birth certificate or form of identification. Becoming his mom meant single-parenting in the African bush and giving up everything I thought my life would be. My heart’s transition into becoming a mother was not a pretty one, to say the least.

I wonder if Peter and the disciples could relate. They gave up everything to follow Jesus, and it wasn’t looking like they thought it would. Sweet mama, if your purpose hinges on the circumstances of this world or the behavior of other people (including your children!), then life is sure to disappoint.

Jesus asked Peter who people said He was. Peter told Him the world had many opinions about Jesus, but he knew that Jesus was Lord. That’s when Jesus told Peter that he would be the rock on which He would build His church. The way Peter’s calling played out looked different in different seasons of life.

My seasons have changed many times since I took that flight to South Africa. Over ten years later, I am still in South Africa, but in a bustling city with a husband, a toddler, and that tiny boy I met years ago is a teenager who towers over me! When I could finally surrender my hopes and dreams to Jesus, I began to see that my life had great purpose. And His plans were much better than my own!

Mama, don’t hang your hat on your current season. Life is always changing, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If you are willing to lay your hopes and dreams at His feet and confess that He is Lord, He will give your life great purpose.

Let’s pray: “Thank you, Lord, that your ways are higher than mine, and you work all things out for my good. Heavenly Father, will you speak your good purpose over my life, and help me to know how to live according to it in this season? Will you help me to joyfully live the way you created me to live in every season of my life? Amen.”

Blessings and Love,

Kacy

Scripture

Matthew 16:13-18 – “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Questions to Ponder

  • What was your life like 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago?
  • How can you see God’s intervention and love woven throughout the story of your life?

Faith-Filled Ideas

Write a letter to your 10-year younger self, giving her advice on how to live for the future ahead of her. When you’re finished, read over it and think about how that advice might apply to the way you live now!

Kacy Ladd

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