Arrows 02-25-10
Posted by Jennifer Bluhm on Wednesday, March 3, 2010
This morning I was hit with the temptation to allow a spirit of anxiety
into my heart concerning Amabelle, my oldest daughter. She will be 7
in May. There have been some big changes at school, and they have been
really hard for her, and therefore, hard on me. Someone once said that
having children is like having your heart running around outside of
your body. As I chose to come before the Lord with this burden, rather
that choosing to carry it around and attempt to take care of it myself,
He spoke to me. I know when it is Him, because He calls me Jennifer .
. . that's another story. He said, "Jennifer, I really do love her."
He spoke to my heart that He loves her, apart from me. That His love
for her, is not conditional, or bound to His love for me. He does show
His love for her through me, but that His love for her exists . . .
without me. What a powerful truth for a mother to grasp and wield.
I had this thought once while journaling about my children and the relationship between adults and children in the Body of Christ, that "When the "church" begins to see and treat children as their eternal brothers and sisters in CHRIST, a huge step will be taken for the welfare of children." That is true, but the Lord just spoke to my heart as I wrote that, and said, " A huge step will be taken in and OF the KINGDOM."
The Lord told me that He placed His mark on Amabelle. I surely would love it for you all to remind me of that. Our children, and our illusion of control over them, their choices, their character, their faith . . .our control is an ILLUSION. It is a ploy of the enemy, the Father of Lies. Do we have influence? YES, Do we have power to bind and loose things in and around them, YES, in Jesus name. Can we control them? NO. Can we guide and bless and correct them? YES. I think one of the great lies that I have believed in parenting is that my children's salvation hangs on me somehow. It is a sneaky lie. Somehow, if I parent perfectly, my daughters will make all good choices. This is not true. For our Father in Heaven is PERFECT, and we make all kinds of wrong and bad choices. Perhaps the way we see and feel about our children, the way we perceive our children are seen by others, speaks about how we think or fear God sees them, which really speaks volumes about how we fear how God sees us.
Perhaps, God would like to reveal something to you about how He really sees you. Take a moment to think on the last time you worried about your child, a time when they acted out, a time when the school called and asked for a "special meeting", the time when your child stood up in front of the entire church on Easter and said (after the pastor declared, "Easter is the day we celebrate Jesus' resurrection!" ) "Jesus? Who's Jesus?".
So, did God create our love and care for our children to be an area of weakness, or a place of great strength? Do we see our children's struggles as problems or promises. Father, as You reveal our relationships with our offspring, as You intended them to be, encourage us and give us power to receive the blessing of the cutting off of binds and releasing of burdens that You did not make for us to carry. Guide us as we point to You in all of our personal situations that our children witness and experience, and all of their situations that we witness and experience. ". . . let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12 . . . something.
I don't know if everybody on the e-mail list needed to hear this, but I need to be reminded of it, if no one else! I pray, Father, that You would begin to reveal the burdens we carry, often as mothers, and show us a new way, Your way of being a mother. Please anoint this process, and let it begin to transform us. Let us lay down our heavy burdens and come along side our children, who ARE our brothers and sisters, called and perfected by You alone. Let them see the freedom You give, that sets us free indeed. I pray for Your Spirit to come in and strengthen our mothering hearts. May we see these little ones truly as blessings and arrows in the Kingdom's arsenal. In Jesus' name. Thank you all so very much for your support and testimonies of God's faithfulness! With Love and Nutrients,
Jennifer Bluhm
I had this thought once while journaling about my children and the relationship between adults and children in the Body of Christ, that "When the "church" begins to see and treat children as their eternal brothers and sisters in CHRIST, a huge step will be taken for the welfare of children." That is true, but the Lord just spoke to my heart as I wrote that, and said, " A huge step will be taken in and OF the KINGDOM."
The Lord told me that He placed His mark on Amabelle. I surely would love it for you all to remind me of that. Our children, and our illusion of control over them, their choices, their character, their faith . . .our control is an ILLUSION. It is a ploy of the enemy, the Father of Lies. Do we have influence? YES, Do we have power to bind and loose things in and around them, YES, in Jesus name. Can we control them? NO. Can we guide and bless and correct them? YES. I think one of the great lies that I have believed in parenting is that my children's salvation hangs on me somehow. It is a sneaky lie. Somehow, if I parent perfectly, my daughters will make all good choices. This is not true. For our Father in Heaven is PERFECT, and we make all kinds of wrong and bad choices. Perhaps the way we see and feel about our children, the way we perceive our children are seen by others, speaks about how we think or fear God sees them, which really speaks volumes about how we fear how God sees us.
Perhaps, God would like to reveal something to you about how He really sees you. Take a moment to think on the last time you worried about your child, a time when they acted out, a time when the school called and asked for a "special meeting", the time when your child stood up in front of the entire church on Easter and said (after the pastor declared, "Easter is the day we celebrate Jesus' resurrection!" ) "Jesus? Who's Jesus?".
So, did God create our love and care for our children to be an area of weakness, or a place of great strength? Do we see our children's struggles as problems or promises. Father, as You reveal our relationships with our offspring, as You intended them to be, encourage us and give us power to receive the blessing of the cutting off of binds and releasing of burdens that You did not make for us to carry. Guide us as we point to You in all of our personal situations that our children witness and experience, and all of their situations that we witness and experience. ". . . let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12 . . . something.
I don't know if everybody on the e-mail list needed to hear this, but I need to be reminded of it, if no one else! I pray, Father, that You would begin to reveal the burdens we carry, often as mothers, and show us a new way, Your way of being a mother. Please anoint this process, and let it begin to transform us. Let us lay down our heavy burdens and come along side our children, who ARE our brothers and sisters, called and perfected by You alone. Let them see the freedom You give, that sets us free indeed. I pray for Your Spirit to come in and strengthen our mothering hearts. May we see these little ones truly as blessings and arrows in the Kingdom's arsenal. In Jesus' name. Thank you all so very much for your support and testimonies of God's faithfulness! With Love and Nutrients,
Jennifer Bluhm
