Mothering encompasses many jobs.
None of them are easy.
Some are quite terrifying.
When you ask a mom, “which aspect of mothering is the most difficult?” No two answers would be the same.
For me, being the spiritual leader of my children scares me to death.
Since my husband does not identify with any religion, the spiritual leader role defaults to me.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so unqualified in my life. My feelings of inadequacy regarding homeschooling are nothing compared to how I feel about leading my children spiritually.
At first I harbored a lot of resentment toward my husband for forcing me into this position. I was bitter and convinced my children were doomed. I worried endlessly, but worrying was getting me no where.
I was convinced that I couldn’t lead my children to Christ because it took me 26 years to find Him myself and He so gently reminded me that I didn’t find Him sooner because I wasn’t looking for Him.
Having only become a Christian three short years ago, I still have so much to learn. I love God, but I’m still learning how to be in love with God. I still struggle to put Him at the center of my days. My first instinct is to try to do it all on my own and fail before I fall to me knees in prayer.
But God is so faithful. He is constantly leading me back to Him. He is showing me that as He leads me, I can lead them.
I’m realizing that I don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to influence the spiritual development of my children. I can simply bring them into my journey of coming closer to God. I let them see me read my Bible. We do daily devotions. We talk about God and how He loves us. We sing worship songs together. We pray. We admire His creation together. I let them see me mess up and ask for forgiveness. We extend grace and love our neighbors. We volunteer in order to learn the importance of serving others.
I teach my daughters what I know to be true and they teach me the most important aspect of all, how to love God with a child-like faith; an unbiased, genuine, unfaltering love of their Creator.
Miss Nevaeh reading her Bible.
I may have not read the entire Bible. I don’t have very many scriptures memorized. I may not even be able to recall every Bible story, but I do love my God and I believe His Word is true. I also love my children with all my heart and I know the importance of a Godly mother. These are the only qualifications I need.
I will do my best and God will do the rest.
Are you the spiritual leader in your home? How are you leading your children to a relationship with Christ?
God bless you as you seek Him and bring your children to know Him! You are right; you do all you can to bring them to Him, and He will do the rest.
The biggest thing you can do is to lead by example. If they see the importance of God in your life, they will follow. I also think, regardless of where we are in our walk, it is humbling to look into the small faces of our children and know that we are wholly and completely responsible for them knowing God.
I want to encourage you, and who knows, there has been many marraiges in your boat where the wife has been the Christian (after becoming one during the marriage) and her husband has learned by her example as well. I pray for this for you, gentle friend.
Kim
I was saved when I was a kid and had a later rededication moment when I was in law school. However, I feel the same as you. I still feel like I have SO MUCH to learn and I struggle to put God at the center of everything. I started out this year reading the Bible every day (on my kindle) so that by the end of the year, I’d have read the whole thing. Well, I got out of the habit when the Bible app didn’t work for a few days and haven’t started it back up again. I can memorize songs without even realizing it but have trouble committing verses to memory. I am around my kids more than my husband since I stay home and he works, so I guess I could be the spiritual leader although I’ve never thought about it until reading this post. I guess I lead by example, although I fail at that sometimes. When I do, I try to tell my daughter what I did wrong and what I should have done differently. I try to incorporate Bible verses and stories in to our materials and we pray together as a family before meals and at bedtime.
So beautifully said. I also get overwhelmed with the idea of teaching our child everything she needs to know about Christ. Then, I remember HE will equip us. It IS all about drawing our children into our daily walk.
I recently helped teach at our church’s VBS, and the lady who taught the Bible Story each day is our church’s preschool director. She said this every single day before she told the story of the day: This here is the Bible (She held up a Bible), the story I’m about to tell you is in this book (she’d open the Bible to the story and show the kids), everything in this book is what? (the kids make a T with their hands), TRUE. Everything in this book is TRUE. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different (the kids would shake their heads). I was amazed. I told her at the end of the week that she had blessed my socks off with that simple statement each day. It’s the simple things like that that our kids will remember.
God bless you on your journey!
P.s. ~ I’m visiting from Loving Our Journey’s link up!
Bethany–this is awesome! I can’t wait to start that with J!!! Thanks for sharing and it’s so wonderful to see fellow readers stopping by other linkers’ pages!
I wanted to encourage you, after reading this great post! God doesn’t say you have to be the spiritual leader if your husband isn’t a believer – He says He is a father to the fatherless and He will provide! Sometimes through you
. Also, don’t think your husband can’t be a spiritual leader – if God can use Baalam’s ass, Jonah’s fig tree and whale, He can certainly use your husband! Pray that God gives him wisdom, and ask your husband those tricky questions! When i first got married, i had far more “book learning” about the Bible, but i found my humble, quiet husband had so much practical, Biblical wisdom! Praying for unity for you 
Stephanie- thank you for this bit of encouragement. You’re right, God can use anyone/anything!
I am walking this journey with you. I was 32 when I was saved. I have 3 children and while my husband faithfully attends church with us and reads to our children, he himself has not made a profession of faith. Being the spiritual leader in this home is overwhelming and terrifying at times. But I try to remember: Nothing is impossible with God. It is all under his Sovereign control. He is faithful, He alone can keep us faithful and if He wills, He will bless our efforts and bring forth the fruit we long to see in our children.
Kelley
Thank you for sharing! It is comforting to know there are others in this same situation. Thank you for your sweet reminder that God is in control. Some days it feels like the entire world is riding on our shoulders, we just have to remember God will help us carry the load. Stay strong. I will be praying for you!!
Wonderful post, Heather! Like you, teaching my girls about God and helping them grow in faith terrifies me! I feel completely unprepared to teach them what they need to know about God! My need for support is part of the reason for starting the link party! Thank you for linking up!
I will do my best and God will do the rest….LOVE this. I’m such a worrier & perfectionist that I need this kind of quote. May I ask if this is your wording or one of those wonderful quotes that doesn’t seem to have an author…I might need to borrow this one! (and can refer back to you…
in fact, I think I need it as my mantra….
thanks for linking up!!!!!!!!!