 First time camping with both our kids, and during the few hours that everyone was actually sleeping (other than myself, of course), I listened to a book where someone was sharing their testimony in the midst of terrible circumstances. I wept as I peered out my window to see the stars in their vastness, praising Jesus for truly being better than anything else. Soon after my daughter starts screaming bloody murder. Why? WHO KNOWS!! She’s two, in a new environment, trying to sleep between her parents which she never does, camping – take your pick, because it truly doesn’t matter why. She was SCREAMING!! Not going to lie, I wasn’t this perfect mom that whole night and more than once wish there were Fall-Asleep-Right-Now pills that I could shove in both kids mouths. But there was a good moment where I squeezed my daughter praying, “Oh Jesus, I love this girl, but nothing is as great as You! You have created the stars in the sky, the beauty we witness around us…” and went on and on. How on earth was I worshipping Jesus while my tworager screamed my eardrums to a new deafness?? In those moments, I honestly couldn’t do anything else! “For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6 In those moments in the car, I had given the Spirit control, and the Spirit set my mind in the place it needed to be. I love my kids! I love my husband! I love our little life in our cute blue house in our quaint town! But none of it – NOT A THING – compares to Jesus!!! My kids didn’t save me from eternal death. My husband didn’t die a ridiculously painful death out of pure love. My house and my community haven’t given me a new spirit to change my actions and words to be less selfless. None of them complete, none of them satisfy and none of them are my whole world. Jesus and Jesus alones satisfies, completes and renews me. I constantly feel the pull of making motherhood ultimate in my life. I feel like if my kids are doing really great, it’s because of my tips, tricks and talents as a mom. When they are breaking down, it’s because I suck at being a parents or it’s someone or something else’s fault for getting them to that point. It’s so easy to point fingers at other causes or look down at other people at their parenting. It’s easy to stay home and get caught up in my own world – MY kids, MY housework, OUR routine. As my dad likes to say about people, “We follow the path of least resistance.” Mom, what do you default to? Where do your comforts lie? What people, places, thoughts comfort you? Motherhood is a wonderful time of life that is filled with heartache and is can be conducted on the edge of insanity. But your role as a mom doesn’t define you. If you accepted Jesus’ free gift of forgiveness from your sins and Spirit to dwell in you, you are defined as child of the King of Kings! So, precious Princess, what can you do today to draw closer to the King? Take time to ask Jesus what is taking your primary focus, and how He guide your thoughts toward Him today. About Leah Leah works with Master Plan Ministries at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. Other than watching college students' lives change, she enjoys getting her mind blown by God and His Word, watching sci fi, baking cupcakes, and spending time with her hunky husband. If you'd like to read more from this contributor, type her name in the search box on the top right.
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