Motherhood

I have 77 days left until we get to meet the new member of our family. I have been thinking a lot about the things I need to work on or improve as a mother. There are many things but I know with God's help I can improve upon the areas I am not doing as well as I should be. I was going threw some old papers and came across this. It was given to me by someone (I don't remember who) at my baby shower. I thought I would share it with all of you.

The success of a tree and a man is measured by the fruit that is borne. The fruit of a man or woman is their children; everything else is falling leaves.

If the sun rises and sets and I never cast a bigger shadow, what of it, if my children are growing and flourishing God's family?

Let me die poor; let me die early; let me be ravaged by disease; just let my children rise up and call me blessed. Let me not measure my giving by the dollars I spend on them or the educational opportunities that my station in life affords them, but rather, by the hours I spend with them in fellowship.

May they graduate from my tutorship to become disciples of the Man from Nazareth? May they learn good and evil from the pinnacle of obedience rather then from the pit of despair. May they have the wisdom to choose the precious, and the courage to reject the trite and the vain things in life. May they always labor for the meat that endures.

May they be lovers of God, coworkers with the Holy Spirit, and a friend to the Lord Jesus. And when their trail ends, may it end at the throne of God, laying crowns at the Savior's feet.

I do not put this on here because this is something that I have been successful in but because I want to be. I want my children to say I was the perfect, Godly mother. I know that they won't say that because I know no one is perfect. I distinctly remember my parents telling my sisters and I (this is not exactly how they put it but close enough) "we are not perfect, we are not perfect parents. We have made mistakes, we will make more but you can do it better then we did" I always have remembered that. I have always taken that to mean that they knew they made mistakes, they knew they weren't perfect, they were not proud of their mistakes, neither were they going to make excuses for them but telling us that we can learn form their mistakes and do it better. I think my parents did a great job of raising us three girls so I am not saying this because I think they were terrible parents. On the contrary I think they were the best. If I do half as good with my kids I will feel I did well. I say this because it has been something that has stuck with me and helped me to move past my mistakes and do better. I will tell my children the same thing.
Ape