Day 103 Pride

I have "fully embraced motherhood".  I no longer have a fulfilling job or do gratifying volunteer work.  I hold no committee positions and get no 'kudos' from peers in the community.  I earn no money at all.  When Jesus said "Only in his hometown, among his relatives an din his own house is a prophet without honor"  (Mark 6:4) , He had a very different context in mind.  Yet today I'm thinking of how "the world" doesn't honor or reward stay-at-home moms.  And even if I was the most famous, brilliant woman in the world, my kids wouldn't want my autograph.  Yet, there is a level of honor that is both earned and deserved.  God commands children to "honor your father and mother".  And if I live a godly example and teach/train them well, there will be honor and praise someday worth more that all the accolades of the world (Proverbs 31:28-31). 

Tip: If you need verbal praise, ask for it from your husband! 

Day 102 Holy Fear

"Then the woman came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth"  (Mark 5:38).

Smart woman.  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10 AND Psalm 111:10 - I never realized before it says this twice!).  She knew she was in the presence of a holy God.  We now (knowing the compassionate nature of Christ) realize that her fear was unfounded, but she didn't know that.  It's okay to tremble at God's holiness.  It's not okay to tremble at sickness, worry over baby's healthy, decisions as a parent, grocery bills, etc.  Help me, Lord, to always take my fears to You and release them.  You know me so well, Lord and one day I'll stand before You, knowing You've seen all my faults and bad Mom days.  Thank You, Jesus for covering my sin with your righteousness!

Tip: Truly, worry gets you nowhere. Try and reject fear and worry and embrace hope and peace in Christ. 

Day 101 Perseverance

"Consider it pure joy...when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and compete, not lacking anything."   James 1:2-4

I used to think that the woman suffering with the bleeding issue  was distraught, desperate, at the end of her rope. But Christ told her that her faith had made her well.   Perhaps it was just the opposite - she was "complete"; she had 'persevered'; she knew Jesus was her only hope and let nothing hinder her from her focus to reach Him.  Wow.   Could I suffer for 12 years and grow in faith and not despair? Truth is, I will parent this child for longer than that and I'm sure we'll have some suffering along the way (mixed with lots of joy, I hope!).  Help me, Lord, to never despair, to always persevere until I'm a mature and complete mom and can mentor others. 

Tip: Join MOPS or another Christian Mom's group that will encourage, advise, and come alone side you during this time with little ones at home. 

Day 100 Faith

"Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."  Mark 5:34

Lord, You sometimes heal instantly, miraculously. Sometimes You don't.  You ALWAYS want to heal our hearts more than our bodies, though.  Increase my faith, Lord, through this "testing of my faith" (James 1:3).  Am I able to rise up above my circumstances and praise Your name, to experience Your joy and radiate Your peace despite sickness?  I call myself a Christian, but these are the outward signs, "fruits" of that inward faith - that with each increasing trial, I'd respond with increased faith demonstrated by my peace and joy.  How awesome to have the faith of Stephen, who glorified You with a radiant face while being stoned to death.  Or to be like Peter and Paul who sang Your praises after being beaten for their faith!  Help me, Lord, to know You like that and in turn to witness to my children what a great God You are!

Day 99 Suffering/ Doctors

"She had suffered under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse."  Mark 5:26

Lord, You have placed my husband and I as the authority over our baby, yet when it comes to his health, it's so easy to defer quickly to the doctor's orders.  If the doctor prescribes something that may do more harm then good, what do we do?  Do we by faith trust You are working through our doctor? Do we disobey our doctor and by faith trust You alone to heal? It's so hard to know.  Lord, You are the ultimate healer, our Great Physician.  We know that with just a word You could make our baby well - however You choose to accomplish it.  The main issue is our hearts - do we trust You? Are we seeking Your wisdom?  Are we listening for Your direction?  Are we reaching out to You in faith? 

Tip: Think twice before you immunize, give antibiotics or other medicine to your child.  Read the inserts, look them up online, pray over every possible side effect and seek the Lord for wisdom.  

Day 98 No Want

Years ago, I memorized Psalm 23 and I still recite it when I begin to be afraid. It always calms me, although I think I'm still far from understanding or living out it's truth.  Father God, You are my shepherd and You are taking care of me, Your little lamb.  I shall not want (be in need, go without).  This is both a promise from You and from me.  You declare that You will provide for me and not deprive me of what I need.  I declare that I will not long for what I don't have and focus on my perceived needs.  Right now I "want" more sleep, time to exercise, time alone and time for dates with my husband,  a healthy baby, more money and more affirmation  I surrender all these "wants" to You Lord, and embrace the fact that You have, are and will provide all I need.

Tip: Borrow as many baby items as you can and be generous to give/lend what you have when baby outgrows it. You'll be blessed and be a blessing. I've given all my maternity and baby stuff away 3 times and it all comes back around (sometimes better stuff) when I need it.  

Day 97 Faith, not Fear

Lord, I am like those disciples in the boat (Mark 4:35-41).  When things are calm, I'm full of faith. But tonight, the baby began to scream inconsolably.  I tried everything, but his little body is fighting for health and I'm afraid.  Will the vitamins work? Will he recover? I'm crying out to You to help me, to help him, to show me the way to wisdom and not worry.  And now this Word- "Quiet, be still. Why are you so afraid? Do you have so little faith?"  I walked away from the baby, leaving him with my husband, my partner, my love, and now all is quiet.  Perhaps You, Lord, want me to share this burden adn receive help from my closest family and to admit that I need help and am not super mommy.  Thanks for the lesson, Lord. 

Tip:  If baby is in a safe place, learn to walk away and take a 10 minute break if you need it. 

Day 96 Loyalty

Mark 3

I believe in loyalty, in doing our best to support and help maintain relationships with our parents and siblings.  But just as Christ called his disciples so "that they might be with him " and referred to the crowd he was teaching as "my mother and brothers", I'm realizing how this baby is MY disciple. Sometimes that relationship will cause me to NOT be as available to other extended family.  God has called me to share my life and faith with this little person, to protect and lay down my life for him.  I may still have other ministry opportunities, but this one is the highest, hardest, most meaningful and most rewarding one - and the one entrusted to no other.  I am THE MOM - wow!  I've already had to draw boundaries with friends and family that weren't there before and it's been difficult.  But this child, dependent on me, needs my loyalty the most.  

Tip:  In God's order, the husband-wife relationship comes first.  No children were there in the garden when He declared His creation "good".  Don't make an idol of your children and allow them to be the center of your family. 

96 Fasting

"Lord, let me serve my family today."

 The above prayer often leads to a challenging act of service and sacrifice.  My poor baby is covered with a terrible eczema (skin rash) and is suffering.  No cream seems to help, so now I am to do the elimination diet and hope he'll heal when we find the allergen (since I'm nursing). It's hard, Lord, to give up all the foods I like to eat and have on hand (dairy, eggs, wheat, corn, sugar, citrus, peanuts)! But I love my baby.  If I had to starve to save him, I would.  And as I reluctantly enter this "fast", my heart returns to You, Lord, our one true healer and friend.  Have mercy, Lord, and heal my son.  I pray he wouldn't have any life-long allergies.  And help me, Lord, to be willing to lay my life down for this child.  Praise You Lord.

Tip: Nursing mothers shouldn't diet but eat healthy and drink lots of water. Don't worry about the weight coming off until the baby weans.  Keep lots of healthy snacks around that you can grab with one hand while holding the baby.

Day 94 Immediate

"Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Mark 1:18

God, help me to hear Your voice and be quick to follow You.  Right now, I immediately hear and respond when my baby cries - perhaps I know that usually his cries mean that he needs ME.  Somewhere in his little mind he expects me to respond to each cry quickly.  Soon, he'll learn my name and how to call it in different tones based on the urgency of his need.  Soon, I will train him to come immediately when I call his name and to say "Yes, Mommy, I'm coming."  I see now that You, Lord, are training me on what "immediately" responding to Your call out of love and obedience really means - it's sometimes hard, but also an act of love. Help me to hear Your voice  just as I hear the softest of my babies cries, and to quickly say "Here I am, Lord," "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." (Isaiah 3:10).

Tip:  Train your child starting at 18 months to come quickly when called and wait for further instructions from you.  It is the most wonderful thing to hear "Yes, Mommy, I'm coming", instead of "what?" when you call them!

Day 93 A New Creation

God, it would be so nice if there was a manuel on how to take care of babies and to raise, educate and disciple all children - but there is NOT!  Each child is a new life, unique and unlike any other.   While some principals may work with many or even most babies, nothing works for all.  I know Jesus wasn't talking about babies in Mark 2 when He said "no one puts new wine into old wineskins..." but about His new covenant of grace, the Good News.  Yet, I find an application here - no two babies are alike. Mommy has to figure each baby out, like it was the first time, and customize many things to that baby's needs.  I never was able to sleep with the baby in my bed until now when he is so sore with eczema that he screams until I sooth and cuddle with him in bed.  Thank you, Lord, for showing me that I can't rest on what worked before - this child is a new creation. 

Tip: Learn to nurse laying down - baby faces you for the breast closes to the bed, you lean over baby lying down for the upper breast - and perhaps you'll both get a little more rest. I never mastered this with my firstborn and it's still a challenge because I spray a lot and hate wearing nursing bras to bed, but in a pinch when I'm exhausted, it's wonderful! 

Day 92 Prayer for Father

The last words of the Old Testament are a promise of a curse if the fathers and their children don't form a heart connection.  God, help my husband to truly shepherd our baby, providing that godly leadership and example a young child needs.  I pray my husband would grow in wisdom and faith and zeal for Your word, O Lord!  I pray he would bless our baby.  I love it that the last words of the New Testament are a blessing of grace for the saints.  We'll never be the perfect parents, but through Jesus and with the Holy Spirit as our guide, I pray we could raise this child to be in relationship with us and with our Savior. 

Tip: A father's humble leadership will draw a child to follow him. 

Day 91

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).  Are these fruit visible in me? to my child? my husband? the watching world? The world may judge me on the behavior and looks of my children, but my kids are not my "fruit".  They are God's creation and a blessing and may reflect my parenting at times, but they will never be my "fruit".  In fact, as I raise and educate my children, the fruit of the Spirit will hopefully GROW in me.  If I'm becoming the opposite (unloving, sad, stressed, impatient, bad, unfaithful, angry and violent) something is WRONG!  Most likely, I'm not relying on God's help and strength for parenting - just my own flesh - and it's giving out!

Tip: Make daily "me time" for reading and prayer to fill your heart and mind with the right input!

Day 87

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ -what is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8)

I love my sleep, but I love my baby more.  I love my freedom, but I love my baby more.  More than my pretty clothes (now with spit up on them), my sporty car (now a van), my high heels (not on your life while holding my baby!), my tidy hair (yanked on), my sense of worldly importance, my financial stability, even my friends and extended family. So quickly I realize I would "lose all things" to gain/keep this baby. Paul has that zeal (and more) for Christ - he'd give up anything and everything for Christ's sake. Would I? Would I even give up this baby? I think of Abraham - no wonder even God marveled at his great faith (Genesis 22:12). Forsaking anything, even his precious promised heir, at God's command he almost sacrificed Issac on the altar. I'm learning so much about sacrifice, Lord and understand it better each time something I used to care about becomes "rubbish" to me as I choose my baby over those things. Like yesterday, when I grabbed the closest cloth available - my own pillowcase - to catch baby's spit up!   Help me to see more clearly how to apply this passionate, sacrificial love to my love for You, Lord, as I humbly contemplate the ssacrificial love you had for me on that cross. 

Tip: Whenever you need to give up something for your child's sake, do so joyfully, gratefully, and as an offering to the Lord.. Resentment will eventually eat you up and kill your future relationship with your baby.

Day 86 Curse in to Blessing

It is with awe and amazement that I thank and bless You, Lord.  My baby has a staph infection, which is highly contagious and the doctor said that no one should touch him. However, because I have strep throat, I'm also on antibiotics, which will help my body resist the staph so I alone can touch and hold him!  Here this sickness, which I questioned and felt so burdened by, has become a blessing!  I'll gladly bear sterp now since I can see how You have used it for good. What a sweet example of Your love, Lord, and how You endured to suffer and die out of a high goal to save mankind from sin and death. You saw the big picture.  My cross today is to endure strep.  My cross daily is to lose my life for Christ's sake.  I am losing my old life as I become the mother You desire me to be. 

Tip: When burdens seem heavy, remember to go to Jesus with them and He promises to give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

Day 85, 12 Weeks 1 day - Wait on Him

"He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and began to wait on him (Jesus)" (Matthew 8:14).  I was sweaty all night, but now the fever is gone, praise You Lord!! Now...how do I do as Peter's mother did - get up and wait on Jesus? She didn't get up and fuss about the dirty dishes, the piles of laundry, her own appearance, bills to pay or groceries to buy. She served Jesus - looking to Him for directions for her "first day back". Lord, my house is a wreck, but what would You have me do?  Give me wisdom and patience so that I won't be overwhelmed by small tasks and so that You can be glorified in my attitude and efforts today (and everyday).

Tip: A mother of 3 said to always do 1 load of laundry everyday once you have 2 or more kids or else it just piles up on you. I've found this to be soooooo true!

Day 84, 12 Weeks - Infirmity

Matthew 8:14-17

Lord, I've been so sick. Strep throat, 102.5 fever, chills, the works. I don't know why You allowed this sickness into our household and worry about the children catching my illness. I do know that You can make this fever leave with just a touch, a word! I don't often see that kind of healing these days - usually a doctor is involved - but I do believe that Jesus "took up our infirmities and carried our diseases" and in some ways He still does. I am able to function as a mom, to walk out my duties in the strength of Jesus and to receive His grace and help along the way.  I may be suffering, but not nearly as much as Christ did on the cross, and He never turned back or whined about it! Wow! 'Take up my cross' takes on a new meaning when I realize that my cross for today is just to love my baby and set aside my own desire to whine and be filled with self-pity. 

Tip: Even when you are recovered from child birth, it is still a great idea to nap or at least rest an hour a day while baby sleeps if at all possible. This will refresh you for when your husband is home and give you that extra strength if you have a fussy baby at night.

Day 81, 11 weeks 3 days - Not to Harm

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. 

Plans to prosper you and not to harm you." Jeremiah 29:11

Father, You are loving and kind. You have my good in mind at all times.  When pain or hardship or conflict enters my life, you can use it for my good. No always, but often, conflict in my life is a result of my resisting Your will, consciously or unconsciously choosing not to submit to Your ways, will and plan for me.  Today as I attempted to clip my flailing baby's fingernails, I managed to snip his tender, tiny finger! He screamed in shock and we cried together as I soothed him and apologized.  In my attempt to rescue him from slicing up his face and my arms with those mini razor nails, I hurt him.  God, help me remember that, just as I never planned to hurt him, You don't desire hurt in my life - yet it may come as You accomplish a greater good in me.

Tip: Cut nails when baby is sleeping. Sometimes it's better to literally chew them off after a bath softens them if the baby just won't be still enough for clippers to be safe. 

Day 79, 11 weeks, 2 days - Touch

Mark 1:41, Matthew 8:3

Lord, I love the story of how You touched the leper, the 'untouchable'. Your compassion led You to do the one thing no one else was willing to do - actually TOUCH him. Lately my baby has developed a terrible eczema over his face, back, arms and legs. It's ugly and red and some is pussy and gross. yet I love this little boy and continue to touch and kiss him.  When I rub lotion on his 'wounds', he grins at me with eyes full of love and thankfulness. Father, help me to never withhold loving touch from my boy - even when his body or his  behavior may be repulsive - help me to demonstrate touches of love that you created us all to need. 

Tip: Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages for Children, is a great resources as the kids get older (3 and up).

Day 77, 11 Weeks Fear

God, please bless and heal  my baby! I felt a big lump on the back of his neck last night and was tempted to rush him to to the ER at 2am. Prayer restored my faith and peace. This child is Yours, Lord, and I need not fear.  "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18).  Just 2 verses earlier, John teaches that "God is love."  Lord, You drive out my fear. There can be no fear when I abide in You and let Your Spirit live in me. Today, my toddler pulled the baby swing over while he was in it and baby landed face down on the tile floor! I expected a bloody nose or chin, but he  didn't have a scratch on him.  Praise You Lord, for protecting my baby! His life is in Your hands, Father, and I will try to trust You and not to fear. 

Tip: Learn how to give kids a lymphatic massage (to boost their natural immunity) and practice on baby while nursing.

Day 76, 10 weeks 6 days Comfort

Lord, my baby is having screaming fits when I know he is tired. He fights hard against sleep and I usually end up rocking him with a pacy or nursing him until he conks out.  Sooner or later, I'll have to let him 'cry it out' and fall asleep on his own.  His frantic cries are so exhausting for me to hear, perhaps because I was created n the image of "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles" (2 Cor 1:3-4).  God, You have shown us Your love and comfort, so that "we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from (You)".  Despite various teachings about how screams strengthen the lungs or how nursing baby to sleep will spoil the child, I know that You have made me desire with all that is within me to comfort this baby when he cries.  I pray You'd teach me, Lord, when it's time to let him cry it out and trust You that my love and compassion will do more good than harm, since I believe it comes from You!

Tip: You'll get lots of opposite advice from well-meaning friends and parents, but take it all to the Lord who has chose YOU to parent your unique child.