Happy Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day here in the UK, which seems to be my cue to write something since I have a blog for mums and about mothering. I’ve been trying to write several posts lately, but being very pregnant (and thus exhausted) has been very much getting in the way. So this will be brief.

I’ve just started reading a book, Radiant – Fifty Remarkable Women in Church History by Richard M Hannula (Canon Press). As the title suggests, it contains stories of some very inspiring women, many of whom are mothers. I read this yesterday:

After the first few centuries of Christianity’s spread across the Roman world, the greatest growth in the church came from the nurture of children in her midst. As always, the day-to-day task of bringing children their first impressions of faith in Christ has fallen primarily to Christian mothers.

You might not feel like you’re doing anything very important, teaching your children about Jesus alongside teaching them to use their cutlery and not to spit at each other. Your friends might think you’re mad because you seem happy being ‘just a mum’ when you used to have a well-paid job. Or maybe you do know that bringing up your children to serve the Lord is a truly valuable calling – it’s still nice for someone to say it to you once in a while though isn’t it?

I have the heart of an evangelist, so I do sometimes get frustrated when I’m doing the third load of washing and doing the same jigsaw for the fifth time, rather than being “out there” sharing the gospel with friends and strangers. But when I read the quote above about Christian women living in the fourth century, I felt privileged that I could follow in their footsteps. Bringing up my children in the training and discipline of the Lord is part of church growth and will hopefully bless the church and many unbelievers in the future, when my children go out into the world.

I doubt I’ll ever feature in a book, and I suppose my children probably won’t either. There’s no reason to think that they will. But by God’s grace I hope that they might live fruitful lives serving their Lord and Saviour, and one day be welcomed into heaven. I will have the Lord and his abounding grace to thank for that, but I can also rejoice that he is using me for his purposes in their lives.

As a friend said to me on my last Birthday, I now say to you: I hope your family make you feel appreciated today – and if they don’t, your reward is waiting for you in heaven.