The Sacrifice of Motherhood

I stole a few minutes in the bath tub earlier tonight (thanks hubby!) and I got to read a couple of chapters in a book that I've sort of been reading. I say "sort of" because I have been reading the same book for 4 months and I'm only on the 5th chapter, haha. The chapters are really short, too. As a homeschooling Mommy of three boys I barely have time to take a shower, so I can forget finding time to read a book! Anyway, I got to read a couple of chapters in Lysa Terkeurst's book "Am I Messing Up My Kids?" I know God intended for me to read this chapter right now. (Maybe that is why I haven't found time to read it previously.) I needed to read this tonight!

Lysa shares her perspective on stretch marks. Just wait, it's so much more than that! She says, "It's the mark of the ultimate servant who gives their life to make new life possible for others. Not that I actually died in the process, but the way my body looked before I had children, smooth and unblemished, died during the rigors of pregnancy.....I stood before the mirror and continued to examine the stark evidence of past pregnancies. A strange sense of pride welled up in my heart as I realized these scars made me like Jesus in a way. I gave of my life to make new life possible. I carried this new person and took on their weight. I was stretched almost beyond what I could bear. My experience left me scarred and forever marked. But the product of the scars is a joy I could not have any other way."

Isn't that beautiful? It gives me a new appreciation for the pregnancies that I have endured and the precious babies that have come from my physical sacrifice. The experience of having a baby has made me more like Jesus. 

She also shares that motherhood, in and of itself, is one of God's means of continually making us more and more like Jesus. As we die to ourselves and serve our families, we are becoming more like Jesus. Changing diapers, folding clothes, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, teaching math, listening to tattle telling, disciplining time and time again, wiping noses, giving hugs, and all the other seemingly mundane activities of the average day in the life of a mommy, are all being used by God to mold us and make us more like Christ. As I do these things with a joyful attitude and a grateful heart, I get the chance to model for my family how important serving others truly is.  I get to teach them that we are never more like Jesus than when we are serving others.

Today I am thankful for a new outlook on motherhood. The physical sacrifices my body has made as these children were formed have allowed me to be more like Jesus. As I serve these precious souls each day, I am becoming more like my Jesus! Knowing that God is using motherhood to mold me into the woman He created me to be, causes me to look forward to all that it has to offer. Even the bad days and dirty diapers. I am grateful that God has a purpose in each day as a mother. He is using me to raise these precious boys into Godly men but at the same time, He is using them to raise me! The sacrifices I make as a Mommy are helping me to become more like Jesus.