How do we help our children differentiate between God and fantasy so that the Christ child we celebrate at Christmas isn’t put in the same category as Santa and his elves? It’s important for our children to know that God is real.
God, who repeatedly declares and demonstrates his love through Christ for his children, acts in our circumstances in the way that is most loving, even when it doesn't make sense or seem to agree with our definition, understanding, or interpretation of love.
God has used John Piper to teach me three truths related to motherhood and suffering that have given me great hope in my sorrow. The first is that we will suffer as mothers. That reality would be devastating apart from God’s promise that our pain as his children will not be wasted. Not only does God offer us future hope; his Word also sustains us in our suffering.
So much of motherhood is about presence, not performance. It’s about being present with and for our children in a thousand moments that make up their early years and beyond.
Dear Lord, I’m thinking today of the mom who desires joy, but when she considers her present circumstances, all she sees are challenges.
“I love you so much…” I hear my three-year-old’s voice singing these words to the tune of “Happy Birthday” in the next room as she plays, and I smile.
God never forgets any of it. Our grief. Our joy. He remembers all of it. And our losses, even the loss of an unborn child, are better kept by him than anyone else.
God works all things—even the gritty moments of parenting—for the good of those who love him.
On a recent family road trip, we stopped at least once an hour. No exaggeration. By the fifth potty stop for the same child, it was all I could do to hold my tongue as we walked to the restroom. I felt impatience filling me like a balloon, and I was about to burst.
I see many parallels between 9/11 and the pandemic of 2020. What is the main difference—for me—between these two life-changing events? This time, I am a mother.
Katie Faris 