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“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."
-Galatians 5:25
I wish I could say that now that my family is older, we are always mature. Yet, I am still an imperfect mama, personality differences still exist and cause occasional clashes, my children still struggle with their issues. I still want harmony all the time! Yet, my home still has tension between my ideals and reality.
I realized long ago that if I didn't cultivate happiness through each day, I would never be happy. If I waited until all of my family were more mature, I might be waiting until Jesus comes back. The reality of living in a fallen world means that I must adjust my expectations to a fallen world or I will always be disappointed.
As godly mothers, we strive to make the best possible decisions, set the perfect boundaries, and have the correct rules that we believe will somehow cultivate "spiritual" children. However, we can't by sheer force or the right rules or the right devotional curriculum make our children spiritual.
There is a mysterious process by which the Holy Spirit leads our children to see their need for Christ as we seek to cultivate their hearts. But it is entirely led by grace, informed by love, and carried out by the help of the Holy Spirit.
The grace of God is given in spite of our circumstances, His peace comes when our difficulties would suggest otherwise. We walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and rest in His grace. This is the secret of seeing God's grace each day—living within our limitations with a heart of joy, knowing we are accepted by God, and expecting Him to fill in the cracks and make our faith work enough to raise healthy children.
God is my hope when I am out of control. He is my prayer-answerer when I am beyond my own strength. I live practicing joy because He is my audience and I want to rest in Him because He wants to be my adequacy.
And that is ultimately what I want my children to see—not my perfection, but my running to Him, living In His grace, loving Him in the midst of the muddles of life, so that they will know how to live when they are seeking to raise a family amidst the fallenness of their own lives and their own world.