I look back to the memories of my childhood, a strong image that comes to my mind is that of my mother's loving hands. I thought they were the most beautiful in the world. In many ways, I still feel that way.
Because I had been a premature baby, I was often sick with a variety of respiratory illnesses, including chronic asthma and occasional bouts with pneumonia. My memories of these illnesses, however, are mostly pleasant, because my mother would gently stroke my brow as she talked softly or told me stories and gave me her full attention. I remember feeling very loved by such focused attention.
At other times, when I fidgeted in church services, I remember my mother's hands massaging my own, pulling and squeezing each of my fingers as she quietly played finger games with me. As a young child, sitting next to her in a big overstuffed chair, I would watch her hands as she read to me from an oversized children's book. Her fingers would point to the enticing, heart-delighting pictures and turn the pages of the large volumes as we leisurely sat together and talked and read.
And during the period when I was having a recurring nightmare—one I still remember!—I especially remember the comfort of my mother's hands when she came to my bedside. She would take my hand in hers as she knelt to pray with me, soothing away my fears and comforting me as she entreated God to take all of my bad thoughts away.
Now, many, many years removed from my mother and a thousand miles away, these memories of my mother's hands are still strong in my heart. Those hands are now old and wrinkled and aching with arthritis, yet still, as an adult, I often wish she were with me to stroke my brow in the midst of illness and exhaustion, to massage away the frustration and boredom of tedious days, to open windows to the world while reading to me in a big old chair, and to take my hand in prayer and cast away all the fears of my life. The touch of a mother's hand and the power of a mother's love indeed has carried me through many moments of my life.
As I look to the needs of children of today, I am convinced they need the same things from their mothers that I needed—and received—from mine. They need not only the gentle touch of a mother's hands, but her focus and her attention on a daily basis. They need a champion and a cheerleader, someone who has the time and energy to give encouragement along life's way and comfort in dark times. They need a directive voice to show them how to live.
These needs are not frivolous demands. They're part of the way God designed children. And meeting those needs is not an option or a sideline for mothers, but part of his design as well. Perhaps because I was fortunate enough to have a mother who met my own needs so beautifully, God has put on my heart a desire to encourage other mothers by showing them the significant role they play in the life of their precious children—and by assuring them that their deep desire to devote time and energy to their families is a vital part of God's call on their life.
For quite a few years now, my husband and I have been privileged to travel all over the United States and to other parts of the world, conducting seminars on the biblical vision of the family. Wherever we travel (usually with our children in tow), I meet mothers from so many stations of life—from stay-at-home moms and homeschoolers to professional career women, from sweet young moms pregnant with their first babies to older mothers trying to reach the hearts of their teenagers. Though the choices and circumstances of these women may be very different, their hearts and desires are basically the same—to do the best job they can at loving and nurturing their children and to bring meaning and continuity to life and relationships in their families. They all want to be the very best parents they can be. They want to do motherhood right.
And yet, increasingly, I find that these women are unsure of what it means to be a good mother. They are confused by a culture that sends them drastically mixed messages about the importance of a mother's influence and what her priorities should be. As a result, so many mothers I meet are baffled and frustrated. They don't know how to reconcile these conflicting messages with the calling of God on their hearts and lives.
What's the cure for this confusion? I believe it lies in a rediscovery of the traditional mission of motherhood, a rediscovery of what God had in mind when he first designed families. That fundamental design is still valid, although its specific shape in a given home may vary widely. And the fundamental mission of motherhood now is the same as it always was: to nurture, protect, and instruct children, to create a home environment that enables them to learn and grow, to help them develop a heart for God and his purposes, and to send them out into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully. It's up to us to embrace that mission as our own, trusting God to walk us through the details and to use our willing mothers' hands as instruments of his blessings.
It is my heart's desire to encourage each precious mom who reads this book by affirming the significant role a mother plays in the lives of her children. I hope to remind moms of the value God places upon their lives and to help them respond wholeheartedly to his call on their lives. As we explore together what it means to cultivate a heart for God, a heart for our children, and a heart for our home, I will attempt to create a complete picture of how we are called to live as mothers, so that the integrity of our own lives will reflect the beauty of God's original design.
I do not, however, consider myself to be a perfect mother. My aspirations and what I can idealize oftentimes far exceed my ability to live up to them in reality. Yet it is in being able to visualize the dreams of my heart and the beauty of God's design that I have found a standard of maturity to move toward.
As I reflect on my own life, I feel that I have learned so much—the hard way, by making many mistakes. Many moments of stress and struggle could have been handled so much more easily ifI had had a wiser, older woman to shed light on my stages of life.It was through writers like Edith Schaeffer that I was encouraged and helped along the way. My hope is that in some way, I might be able to provide that same encouragement and inspiration.
But I'm still learning, and the lessons God has taught me as I sought to embrace his mission for motherhood have been truly life-changing—and a source of unbelievable blessing. No matter what our culture tells us, I've discovered, and no matter what directions our own desire may push us, the only way to true joy and peace is God's way.
I hope you’ll join me for the Life With Sally Book Club where you and I will go through The Mission of Motherhood together with exclusive teachings, journals, and downloads to help you implement the ideals of the book! May your heart be warmed, encouraged, and lifted as you read this book, and may God hold you in his own capable hands as you strive to fulfill the mission of motherhood in your own life.
