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I'm in the middle of reading a great, inspirational book. It's called, "Lord, Please Me Me in the Laundry Room" by Barbarra Curtis. It's a great book to encourage you as a mom. Barbara is a mom of 12 kids. She has adopted 3 down syndrom children and given birth to a child with downs as well. She didn't become a Christian until she was in her 30's and had a number of children.
What I like about the book is how encouraging she is of our walks with the Lord and how she doesn't have much time for in-depth Bible Study but instead meets the Lord in the laundry room as she changes laundry throughout the day. She is very down-to-earth about her parenting and herself as a mom. She doesn't claim to have all the answers but claims to know who does and promises that God will meet you wherever you are - even if you're busier than you can imagine. She talks about learning to walk in God's presence throughout the day and live each day in communion with him.
One of my favorite quotes from her book is this, "God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called". I've been reading from 1 Kings and reading about King Solomon and his prayer to become wise. I like one of the preceding verses - 1 Kings 3:7 "And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father. And I am a little child; I do not know to go out or come in!" When King Solomon became King, he wasn't already equipped, he instead needed equipping. He believed that God could equip him and prayed for wisdom and understanding and boy was he sure equipped!
There are many things in life that we don't do or turn down because we don't think we're able to or aren't good enough to do. God may be calling us to step out in faith and do his will in a certain area. We may not think we're up to the task, but like I said before, "God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called."
Often I think people treat having more children this way. People wonder, "how do you do it - having 6 kids who were under 8 years old?" I can answer again, "God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called." Some people find it harder or easier to do certain things, but God will equip us in whatever way it's necessary to meet the demands that are placed upon us. Sometimes it may seem impossible, but as we cry out to him, he is faithful. It doesn't mean it's easy. Just today I found myself yelling at my kids. I HATE when I do that. I wasn't walking in that fellowship with the Lord today.
Just because having fewer kids is easier and within what we think we can handle doesn't mean that that's God's plan for our families. It's so easy to follow the flow of society and do what is normal. We originally thought we would have 3 or 4 kids. After 2 kids I got pg with twins so we thought we would be done as we had our 4 kids. I got rid of my maternity clothes after my twins were born and we thought that was that. Thankfully we didn't do anything "permanent" about the situation.
When my twins were almost a year I just had this sence that there was someone else (or many someone elses) who the Lord had plans for on this earth that we should be having. I imagined children who might not exist based on our decision to stop having children. I talked with my dh about it who wasn't sure about having more children right away. We read "Be Fruitful and Multiply" by Nancy Campbell and after a few months of praying and waiting, dh agreed with me. His biggest problem was worrying about finances.
So we got pg again and had my 5th child. I remember before I got pg thinking about having another child and imagining looking at that child and thinking that he's a child that may not have existed had we followed the ways of society. Now we've had another child. It's hard to imagine life without these 2 little blessings! Are things always easy? NO Is life complex with all these relationships/child-training to mange? YES! Is god big enough equip us to raise these children! YES - if we learn to come to him and rely on him. On my own, I fail, but with God there is victory.
No matter where you are in life, the Lord calls you to step out in faith and walk with him. Are there areas that the Lord is speaking to you about? Are there things he has for you to do that you don't feel adequate to do? Have faith in God - he can and will equip you for what he calls you to do.
Your post got me thinking........ I am struggling right now with motherhood...... being the independent woman that I am.... having many dependent precious souls needing me can be very challenging for me.... so often I feel I am failing them....... I was not raised to be a wife and mother..... so this does not come easily to me....... but as you said, the Lord does not call those who are equipped but to equip us.......
I was blessed by what you wrote,
gloria
Thank you
Posted by cindy on Sat 23 Jun 2007 at 06:07 - Link
for sharing your heart. I was touched by this blog and picked up a few things I need to work on... Listening for God's plans for me, and pull closer to Him so that I can keep my children on the right path. Thanks again for sharing, looks like I will be adding another book to my library! :-)
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk