I'm in need of some "mom encouragement" today.  Are you? 

I get weary in the day-to-day life of raising a little one.  When you are a Christian mom, there is even more to be intentional about and we can get weary.  I found this and wanted to share with you.  Prayerfully it will help you too!


"...[children] can never get away from the prayers of their mom watering the seeds of God's Word and love that have been planted in their hearts for a lifetime.  Chances are high that the seeds of faithful instruction will one day burst forth into life.  The Scriptures, learned by heart, will move lost loved ones to remember their father's house, come to their senses, and return home (Luke 15:11-20)."  (Excerpt from A Mom After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George)

Whatever season of parenting you are in, it is NEVER too early or too late to sow seeds of God's Word in our children's hearts and to PRAY.  Be determined and faithful to be a Mom on a Mission to the heart of your child!

By God's Grace Alone,






Join me and other moms who want to make the most of the time we have with our children over at Mommy Missions!  You will find more encouragement, missions (ie. activities to do with your children), laughter and support!  We would love to link arms with you on this mommyhood journey!  You can also join in the discussions on Facebook and Twitter!  See you on the "mission" field!

This excerpt is from John MacArthur's teaching "Pursuing Divine Wisdom" originally published on Grace to You. This is a call to action for Christian parents. Who do you want teaching your children?

"The most important thing you could possibly learn is wisdom. Wisdom is not some spacey kind of thing, out in the air somewhere, some conceptual thing. Wisdom is skill in living and it starts with fearing God, moves to guarding your mind, selecting your companions, controlling your body, watching your words, pursuing your work, managing your money and loving your neighbor. Very simple. But that's it. And when you've done that, you've learned wisdom.

It's so important to be taught. I can say as a father, for example,

if I fail to teach my son to fear God, the devil will teach him to hate God.

If I fail to teach my son to guard his mind, the devil will teach him to have an open mind.

If I fail to teach my son to obey his parents, the devil will teach him to rebel and break his parents' hearts.

If I fail to teach my son to select his companions carefully, the devil will choose them for him.

If I fail to teach my son to control his body, the devil will gladly teach him to give it completely over to his lusts.

If I fail to teach my children to enjoy speech that is honorable to God, the devil will fill their mouths with filth.

If I fail to teach my children to pursue their work, the devil will make them lazy.

If I fail to teach them to manage their money, the devil will teach them to waste it on riotous living.

If I fail to teach them to love their neighbor, the devil will gladly teach them to love only themselves.

Learn wisdom."

Let me be blunt. Someone is teaching our children. Who is it?

Moms, let's be intentional as the time with our children is short. Let's learn wisdom and pass it on to our children by God's immeasurable grace.

Proverbs 2:1-15 ESV

¹ My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
²making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
³yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
¹²delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

On this journey with you,

As you will remember from my previous post, taking the time to be in the Bible with the right attitude is critical to our spiritual growth. But we also need to examine how we view the Word of God.

It's difficult to take the Bible lightly or consider it just another book when we truly realize what sets it apart from other books. There are several views of what the Bible is in today's postmodern society ~ everything from a God-inspired work to a book of suggestions to simply a book that we can take some and leave the rest as it suits us. I'm going to take a bold stand and say that if you truly believe the Bible is a God-inspired work, you must believe all of it. It is either all truth or all fiction. There really is no in-between.

The Bible itself says clearly in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB:

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

This single passage says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God, so we can't take the parts we like and discard the rest. It can be tough to do so but I challenge you to evaluate your view of what the Bible is.

In my next post in this series, we will look at what reading the Word can actually do in and through us!

What is your honest view of the Bible? Does the way you live your life and the choices you make reflect that view?

Previous posts in this series:
Mommy Missions: Transformed by the Word

For more about tending to our own spiritual health as moms, check out the FREE audio download "The Overwhelmed Mom: Christian Parenting in the Chaos of Everyday Life"!

www.MommyMissions.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan/@MommyMissions

One of the biggest issues that we Christian moms face is making time in the Bible a priority in our busy lives. Because of that, I wanted to focus on this for the next few posts to provide insight, encouragement and tips with you! We have to be filled ourselves in order to fulfill our Mommy Mission to spiritually train our children!

Psalm 119:97~105

⁹⁷O how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
⁹⁸Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever mine.
⁹⁹I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged,
Because I have observed Your precepts.
¹⁰¹I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
¹⁰²I have not turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.
¹⁰³How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

Finding time for daily quiet time in God's Word can be a challenge in our hectic world. We have so many roles to fill ~ wife, mom, boss/employee, teacher, sister, daughter, taxi driver, etc. that sometimes the role of daughter of the King gets pushed off of our list. However, this week I dare to challenge you to carve out daily time in the Word. It's worth the effort. But it's not just about time. It's also about attitude.

Time vs. Attitude

Here's a self-assessment question for you to ponder:

When you do read/study the Word, what is your attitude?

1. I look forward to that time with GREAT anticipation!
2. UGH! I haven’t picked up my Bible in a week! I really should read a verse or two.
3. If I don’t read three chapters a day, I’m going to hell.
4. OK, I’ll read it but I probably won’t get anything from it.
5. Other: ___________________________

So many times we can put the emphasis on making time to spend in God's Word without examining the attitude in which we do it. Which of the above answers reflects your attitude when spending time in the Word? I know that we all would want attitude #1 all of the time but that is usually not the case.

Now let's imagine that you wanted to spend some time with your child or best friend. What if they came to spend time with you and their attitude was #2 (squeezing you in), #3 (duty, obligation or to avoid your anger) or #4 (apathy)?

How would you feel about the quality of that time spent with them? It's not a stretch to imagine that you, like our heavenly Father, would want the time spent to be out of love, anticipation and the desire to be there, no matter how long it may be.

So, here is your challenge for the day...

Examine your attitude about spending time in the Word. If you find it is not what you would like it to be, ask God to help you surrender to Him, allowing Him to change it. And while it may be difficult, realize that He, the Creator of the universe, wants to spend time with you. Do you, His creation, want to spend time with Him? Ponder that today and prepare your heart for my next post which will cover what we can expect when we spend time in God's Word with an attitude of anticipation and expectation.

If you are willing to, please share with me which number you chose above. No judgment ~ I promise! We are all a work in progress!

For more about tending to our own spiritual health as moms, check out the FREE audio download "The Overwhelmed Mom: Christian Parenting in the Chaos of Everyday Life"!

www.MommyMissions.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan/@MommyMissions

• Piles of laundry at your feet at 9 PM and your only thought is "I wish I could lay down on them and nap"
• Bathtime will result in more of a mess to clean up than the current grimyness of your kids' bodies so you decide to skip it tonight
• Tag-teaming with your hubby between ball practice and the dance recital makes you want to disguise yourself as a gypsy and head for the hills
• You lay your head on your pillow at night and worry if you have truly touched your child's heart that day

You Are Not Alone!

Time - Friend or Foe?

Other Moms Have Been There!

• The #1 distraction of a mom
• How to avoid the chaos trap
• The key habit to develop to stay focused on what is really important

A Better Way

Have you ever had a day where before 7 AM you were ready to sink to the floor and cry? Oh yes, it’s actually funny later, but at the time…. I used to try to be brave and go it alone, but I’m learning a better way. I’d love to share and also hear from you as well.

1. Thankfully, God is with us to help us.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 ESV

Even though I may only have five minutes between my child’s escapades, it’s enough time to praise God, read a Psalm or simply acknowledge God’s presence. Find that chunk of time in your day because it provides life from the Vine that we so desperately need.

2. God is ever present AND He sends friends and mentors to provide encouragement, guidance, laughter and perspective that all our efforts with our family will make a difference.

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Proverbs 27:9 ESV

If you realize that you are trying to be a Lone Ranger Mama, I encourage you to seek out friends and mentors. You can reconnect with old friends, make new friends by joining a new playgroup or an online mom community (try www.cafemom.com), join a mentoring group or seek out an older mom in your church to be your mentor.

3. Most of all, I just want to encourage you that you are not alone. Even when you want to go face first into your Cheerios, you have support all around you. Look up, wipe off your face, reach out your hand and get connected!

I care and I would like to hear about a day you went face down in the Cheerios and how reaching out to connect with God and a friend or mentor helped you!

www.TaraMcClenahan.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan

Organizational Help

Managing Information

www.taramcclenahan.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan

Website: http://www.taramcclenahan.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan

"O LORD , you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD . You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." - Psalm 139: 1-6 NIV
I have heard it said that God doesn't really care about the day-to-day details of our lives. He doesn't care if you have bacon vs. sausage for breakfast or which way you take home from work.
Well, I pose this question to those who might think along those lines: If He doesn't care about those details, then why does He bother to know when I sit down? Why does He bother to know when and where I go?

The answer is clear to me: He bothers to know because He bothers to care.

If I am about to do or say something that He feels the need to address, then the Holy Spirit steps in and leads and guides me (as long as I make the choice to listen and obey). I wholeheartedly believe that. I believe that the Lord that I serve cares very deeply about my everyday life, my everyday decisions and my everyday thoughts. If He didn't then we would have a God who sits in the heavens and "directs traffic" from His hub in the sky but doesn't really get involved with the mortals. There are several places in the Word that dispute that. One example is Romans 8:11: "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you."
This Scripture clearly states that He is VERY involved with us because His Spirit dwells IN us. How can He help but be involved? He goes everywhere we go - we are never without Him. He knows the thoughts of my heart, He knows the attitudes brewing inside of me. The bottom line is He KNOWS and He CARES. And I for one will praise Him for that.
What about you?







Website: http://www.taramcclenahan.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan

Welcome back to our series, "Investigating the Clues"! Up to this point we have investigated the ways that being a missionary called to a foreign land is very much like being a Christian mom! If you have missed the previous clues, check them out here: Intro, Clue #1, Clue #2, and Clue #3. Don't worry - we will wait for you.......OK! Everyone ready? Let's look now at how we can become Mom on a Mission!







Website: http://www.taramcclenahan.com
Twitter: @taramcclenahan

I came across this quote in a book I recently purchased that I can already tell is going to turn my world, as I know it, completely upside down. How do I know this? Well, just read the quote that is at the very front of the book "Keep A Quiet Heart" by Elisabeth Elliot. Take your time and read it (and re-read it) slowly. Not because I think you are dim-witted but because it was written over a century ago and the language reflects it. But the message within is worth the effort - worth it for us as moms and as children of God.

"I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's work--one's work for God--consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day--the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it."

Greetings fellow Mommies on a Mission! I hope you have rested well this week because it's time to dig into the evidence surrounding our third clue comparing mommyhood to being a missionary! Are you ready? Get out your gadgets and let's get to work! (If you've missed the previous posts in this series, check them out here and here!)

Clue #3: Bringing the Gospel to an Unreached People

This may come as a shock so brace yourself: our children were not born knowing the Gospel and therefore, are sinners. Is that a new realization to you? I admit that when I heard that for the first time, I was rocked back on my heels. The common understanding in our culture today is that babies are born pure and untainted and it is what happens to them or what they are exposed to that corrupts them. But that isn't what the Bible says!

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5 NIV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Romans 5:12-13 ESV

John MacArthur, in his commentary on this passage in Romans, states, "Adam passed to all his descendants the inherent sinful nature he possessed because of his first disobedience. That nature is present from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5), making it impossible for man to live in a way that pleases God".

It's difficult to look at our new little babies and understand that they are sinful but the Bible says that they are (and, by the way, so were we when we were born!). So what does that mean to us as their mommies? Quite simply, it means that we are to be God's missionary to them. We are responsible to be the ones to teach our children in the ways of God according to His Word as instructed in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV:

6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As I mentioned, this is probably the most intimidating evidence of all that we are called to be missionaries in our own homes. We can tend to think of missionaries as those who go off far away to share the Gospel but we are called as missionaries right into our own homes, into our little one's bedroom down the hall, and at the breakfast table each morning. If we ask God to help us think of our calling as mommies in this light, I believe our perspectives and awareness will be continually refocused on what God calls us to be as mommies.

Does the idea of bringing the Gospel to your children intimidate you? Share your thoughts and fears!




My website: http://www.taramcclenahan.com
My Twitter: @taramcclenahan