I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Motherhood Goals
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Hi Friends, Happy Mother’s Day week! I once saw a video where a woman shared “one simple tip to keeping your home spotless”. In the next scene, she ushers her children and husband out the front door, and closes it behind them. Brilliant! We chuckle at memes like this because of the seed of truth underneath them. There is so much pressure on mothers, self-imposed and otherwise, to do it all—keep a perfect home, advance her career, remember all the milestones, volunteer at all the things. We read the million parenting books, pulling from each one, hoping not to mess up our kids all the while knowing we will miss the mark. It has me wondering: what does God want in a mother? As the only person in the world who chose His own family, who did He choose? You might think He would choose to be child 2 or 3 in the family. Let them work out their parenting style on someone else first. Maybe He’d choose a well respected family line: one with generational wealth and respectability. But He chose Mary—a young girl with no experience in having a family. Too young to have much experience in anything, really. But there is one thing she had: Mary had a heart fully surrendered to God. God chose the woman who said, “Be it unto me according to Your word” to raise the Man who would say, “Not My will but Yours be done”. It is not wealth or opportunity or comforts that are ideal conditions in which to raise a child. Perhaps the most important environment is one of surrender. Maybe preparing our children for their future has less to do with getting them in front of all the right STEM curriculums or in the perfect sports leagues. Maybe it’s not agonizing over exposing them to the right Bible teachings at the right time. Maybe our greatest gift to our children is raising them in a home where we face the future with our eyes on Jesus and our hands wide open. I’m aware, even as I re-read these words, that I’m not one who can speak out of authority on this. There are miles between where I am and where I hope to be. Lord, help me to live in open-hearted surrender. Help me to trust You in all things. Let all my life say, “Be it unto me according to Your word”. –Anna |
Anna Blanc
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Welcome to week 2 of our Advent series for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. We left off last week with the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. At the end of his message, the angel seems to leave Mary with a subliminal hint: he mentions Elizabeth. And then he is gone. What does Mary do when she’s had the kind of spiritual encounter that turns her whole life upside down? Without skipping a beat, she runs straight to her friend. The Bible says she hastens to her. Yes, Mary travels to the...
Hi Friends, Welcome to week one of the Advent Series! I wrote this devotional series specifically for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. (You can read more on that here if you missed it.) There is healing for us in this Advent story, and it starts at the very beginning. In Luke 1:26-38, we see Mary visited by the Angel Gabriel and given a most shocking message. That she, a virgin, would bear the Son of God. She is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and it begins: Jesus spends His first 9...
Hi Friends, For years, I’ve taken the weeks leading up to Christmas to stare into the passages of Scripture about Christ coming as a baby. The birth of Christ is a storyline that’s rich in wonder. We could spend all 365 days of the year focusing on it and not exhaust all there is to see. Last year, I did something different. I wrote an Advent email series specifically for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. Spiritual anxiety? What the heck is that? This is a phrase I’ve been using to describe...