Category: Parenting and Motherhood

Aaron and his Sons

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 29

Exodus 28, which I read yesterday, begins with these words to Moses. “Bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him … Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.”

Today, reading Exodus 29, I noticed that it was not only the priest, Aaron, but also his sons who were to be washed and consecrated in preparation for ministry to the Lord.

  • Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the head of the bull. (verse 10)
  • Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the heads of each of the rams. (verse 15, 19)
  • Moses was to spread blood on the right ears, thumbs, big toes, and garments of Aaron and his sons. (verse 20-21)
  • Aaron and his sons were to eat the flesh of the ram and the bread. (verse 32)

The Lord knew that the day would come when Aaron would pass into eternity, and He wanted Aaron’s sons to be prepared to carry on the office of priest.

Rather than using this time to talk about how much fathers ought to bring up their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” like Ephesians 6:4 says … How about we talk about how we as women ought to bring up our children to follow the Lord?

Precious sisters, ladies, women of God, are we preparing our children for adulthood – or are we expecting someone else to do it?

Are we discipling our children in the ways of God so they are ready for the day that we are no longer just an arm’s length – or a phone call – away?

Are we looking well to the ways of our own household with the teaching of kindness on our tongues? (Proverbs 31:26-27)

Are we following the examples of Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice making sure that our children are well-acquainted with the scriptures from his childhood? (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:15)

Are we being reverent older women, teaching what is good and so training the young women in our lives to love their husbands and children that the word of God may not be reviled? (Titus 2:3-5)

Let’s stop pointing fingers at our husbands and their shortcomings and start seeing our own need for an attitude adjustment. Our sons and daughters need us to train them up in the way they should go. It’s never too late.

Read the Bible with your children before they head to school today. Spend 5 minutes listening to them when they get off the bus today. Let them cook dinner with you today. Pray with them before they go to bed tonight. Start today. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

“Even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.”

Psalm 71:18

Heavenly Father, being a mother is a hard job. I can’t do it without You, Lord. Please give me the strength and wisdom I need to train up my children in the way that they should go. Help me to lock arms with them and do life side-by-side with them. Make my eyes and ears attentive to their needs. Give me a multi-generational vision, seeing my children as the next generation of leaders. Let me not grow weary of well doing. When my own children are grown with children of their own, help me to train the next generation of young women for Your glory, too. May I know that it’s never too late to do good! In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

When Your Heart Moves You to Give: Exodus 25 meets 2 Corinthians 9

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Exodus 25

“Speak to the people of Israel,
that they take for me a contribution.
From every man
whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”

Exodus 25:2 ESV

The Lord had provided for the Israelite people by turning the hearts of the Egyptians to freely give to them. Now the Lord is asking the Israelites to freely contribute to Him. They had freely received and now they are being asked to freely give.

Sometimes … oftentimes …. it’s hard to give.

  • It’s hard to give our time.
  • It’s hard to give our stuff.
  • It’s hard to give our children.

We feel like these things belong to us, forgetting that everything that we have is a gift from God, our good Father, the giver of every good gift.

I was reminded of a beautiful passage in 2 Corinthians 9 when Paul was taking up a collection for some needy believers. Let’s take these words to heart – not merely listening to the Word, but doing what it says.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ESV

Heavenly Father, You have given to me so abundantly. I have more than I need. I have more food and more clothing and more home than I need. I have more free time than I need. You have blessed me with a husband who loves me and four incredible children as well as a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law and two little granddaughters. Thank you, Lord! I pray that I would be generous with all of these good gifts. Help me also to be generous with sharing my testimony and the Word that I have stored up as treasure in my heart. You have been so, so generous to me. Give me the strength to be generous toward others as a gift of gratitude to You. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

When God Calls You by Name

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 14-15

The Israelites are finally fleeing Egypt after watching God repeatedly pouring out His judgment on the Egyptians. He has proven to them again and again that He makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. (Exodus 11:7)

And yet, God has led His people right up to the edge of the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, including at least six hundred chariots, is on their heels.

“And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.””

Exodus 14:10b-12 ESV

Poor Moses. Doesn’t your heart just break for him? Leading is hard work. When the people following you are happy, that’s great, but what about when the “sheep are restless,” when they’re arguing and complaining and blaming you for everything.

But, God. God is growing Moses’s faith, too. Listen to how Moses replies to the Israelites.

“And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.””

Exodus 14:13-14 ESV

And He does.

And He uses Moses to do it. Moses is the Lord’s chosen vessel. Moses is who God has called to lift his arms that the Lord would drive back the sea that the Israelites could walk through on dry land … and to lower his arms that the water covered the chariots and the horsemen and the whole host of Pharaoh’s army. (Exodus 14:21, 26-29)

“Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.”

Exodus 14:30-31 ESV

I keep thinking about when Moses said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13 ESV)

Friends, God had purpose for His servant, Moses, and God has purpose for You. The good works He has prepared for you may not look like Moses’s, but God has purpose for you nonetheless. (Ephesians 2:10)

And sometimes doing those very things that God wants you to do is going to result in persecution, ridicule, or disagreement.

  • Your boss might not like the high-standard of honesty and integrity that you are determined to maintain. Keep it anyway.
  • Your kids might not like what you’re telling them to do. Tell them anyway.
  • Your parents may not agree with you even when you speak in the most humble, loving. honest way. Be willing to risk it for Him.

God’s ways aren’t always easy. Sometimes being His vessel is incredibly joyous, exciting, and totally awesome, but sometimes being His vessel gets you thrown in a well or a prison. Either way, it’s an honor and a privilege to be a servant of the living God.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, What an honor it is to be love and used by You. It is glorious to be Your workmanship, to know that the God who put the stars in place calls me by name. As You had special purposes for Moses, You have a special purpose for me. Please lead me and guide me. Give me the wisdom and hunger for righteousness that I need to follow You fully. I love You, Lord. I want to follow You on that straight and narrow path all the days of my life. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord, I pray. Amen.

The Lord uses His chosen leader, Moses, to part the Red Sea

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12 ESV)

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39 ESV)

With Your Sons and Daughters

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 10-11

When I was a teenager I was afraid of little babies. I didn’t know how to handle them and I worried that I’d hurt them or something. I wanted to adopt all my children so I could get them when they were say about 2 or 3 years old, already potty trained and talking.

Now as a mom of four – including one who was adopted as a 6-month-old – I see the incredible value of the training that happens even in those first two years. Even the youngest child is learning how the world works. They are learning that their parents love them and take care of them – or not. They are learning that they are not the center of the world – or they are. They are learning to be patient, obedient, and quiet – or not.

I am certain that God has a plan and purpose in having new babies born helpless and needy. God could’ve designed new lives to begin already grown and wise, but He didn’t. God intentionally places children into families for the good of the children … and the parents.

So, it’s no surprise that Pharaoh doesn’t want the Hebrew children to go worship with their parents, and it’s no surprise that Moses insists that they must.

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them,
“Go, serve the LORD your God.
But which ones are to go?”

Moses said, “We will go with
our young and our old.
We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds,
for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Exodus 10:8-9 ESV

Don’t underestimate the importance of taking your children to church, of leading them in worship at home, and of including them in your family holiday celebrations. Your toddlers and preschoolers are learning more than you may realize.

Heavenly Father, we pray that we would be faithful stewards of the children that You have entrusted to us. I pray that we would train them up in the way that they should go and that when they are old they will not depart from it. Help us as parents to have obedient hearts, obeying You rather than the world. Lord, You love children and You have placed them into families on purpose. Help us to include them in our family’s worship at home and at church. Help us not to underestimate what our children are learning and the eternal impact that these young ones can have for Your kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

My children reciting Psalm 139 from memory

Deuteronomy 31:10-13 ESV — And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Psalm 148:12-13 ESV — Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.

Proverbs 22:6 ESV — Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ESV — And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Psalm 78:2-7 ESV — I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

Please, Lord, Send Someone Else!

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 4

Have you ever felt inadequate? Incapable? Inept? Have you ever felt like there was no way you could accomplish the task that has been set before you? Maybe you feel that way right now.

Maybe you can relate all too well to Moses’s words,

“Oh, my Lord,
please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:13 ESV

As a new homeschooling mom, I struggled for years with those kinds of feelings. “God, I can’t do this! It’s too hard! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m going to ruin them! They’d be better off at school!”

So, every spring I’d make an appointment to go visit the local Christian school, and my husband and I would reconsider sending our kids there. But every spring we instead chose to recommit ourselves to the task that the Lord had given us to disciple our children at home.

This spring marks my 21st year homeschooling. I’ve successfully graduated my oldest three children, and only my youngest one is still home. I no longer visit the local Christian school every year and I no longer struggle with those feelings of inadequacy when it comes to homeschooling my son.

The Lord has grown both my skills and my faith. And the Lord has proven Himself so very faithful to give my family what we need to complete the tasks that He has given to us.

But, friends, what if I had chosen to send my kids to school? What if I had complained and complained and complained and refused the task that the Lord had called me to? What then?

Well, here’s what I think — I think God would’ve sent someone else. Like God sent Aaron to help complete the job, God would’ve sent someone else to teach my children. My kids would’ve learned to read and write and spell under someone else’s instruction, and I would’ve missed the blessing of having discipled my kids hour after hour and day after day and year after year.

My children would’ve missed the blessings of figuring out how to get along with each other. My children would’ve missed the blessings of doing chores together and memorizing the Bible together and singing off key together. But they would’ve gotten through school somehow.

God would’ve made a way, because He is God, and my children are His workmanship.

Listen, friends, if you don’t tell that person at the grocery store about Jesus, God will send someone else. If you don’t share the gospel with that lady sitting next to you at your son’s Little League baseball game, God will send someone else. If you don’t raise your children to trust in Christ, God will send someone else. I’m walking proof of that.

  • Jonah tried to run, but God sent a whale to change his mind.
  • Pharaoh tried to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, but Moses was spared.
  • Saul tried to wipe out the Christians, but God chose to open his eyes and open his mouth and make him His mouthpiece for the gospel.

God’s purposes will stand. No purpose of His can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) You aren’t that important. You aren’t that powerful. You can’t stand in God’s way.

But, friends, the joys and blessings that you’ll miss!!! Oh, to look back on the fullness of the last 21 years! To remember how the Lord carried us. To see how the Lord worked in me and through me, growing me and growing my kids – I would’ve missed it. To see people that I’ve discipled grow in their faith, there’s nothing like it. I don’t want to miss fulfilling God’s calling … and neither do you!

So, friends, let me encourage you — don’t be like Moses, complaining that you can’t do it and begging God to send someone else.

Rather, remember the words of Mordecai to Esther,

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

Isaiah 14:27 ESV — For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Daniel 4:35 ESV — all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Proverbs 19:21 ESV — Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to have a purpose in this life. What a blessing it is to be Your workmanship and to know that You have prepared in advance good works for me to do and that I can walk in them by Your Spirit in me. What a blessing it is to be Your child and to serve you! I pray that I will be faithful to accomplish each of the tasks that You have given me to do. I pray that my eyes will be fixed on You, the one who is able to do more than I could ever ask or imagine, the God of the impossible. Help me not to trust in my own strength or my own abilities, but to trust in You who is able to do all things. It is in the mighty name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen.

Praying for Both Moms – Birth Moms and Adoptive Moms

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 2

As an adoptive mom, the story of Moses has always had particular interest for me. The idea of Moses’s first mom, the mom who gave birth to him, was willing to risk her own life by hiding him for three months, and then to place him among the reeds in hopes that he would be rescued by an Egyptian, reminds of my son’s first mom, the mom who gave birth to him.

I will be forever indebted to her. Though I don’t know the circumstances surrounding my son’s conception or what she went through to bring him to birth, I know it couldn’t have been easy.

So, I’d like to pray for all those first moms out there, the moms who have birth to a child they’re not raising. But I’d also like to pray for all of us adoptive moms who are raising children they didn’t birth. Both moms face unique pains and joys and both moms need our prayers.

Heavenly Father, I pray right now for the mom who has given birth to a child she isn’t raising, a child who is under someone else’s care. I pray that You will encourage her. Help her to trust in You and seek for You with all her heart. I pray that she will someday see in Heaven that child she carried in her womb. I pray that she will know that You are the God of redemption and restoration and second chances, and that it’s never too late to turn to You. I pray that she knows that You are the God who hears and remembers and sees and knows. Truly, You are the God of all comfort. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

And Heavenly Father, I also pray for the adoptive mom who is raising a child birthed by another, who deeply loves a child that You have entrusted into her care. I pray that You will heal the broken places in her heart with the healing balm of Your love. Help her to cast all her cares on you, knowing that You care for her and You care for that little boy or girl, too. I pray that she will remember that You are the God of redemption and restoration and second chances, and that is never too late to turn to You. May she know that You are the God who hears and remembers and sees and knows. Truly, You are the God of all comfort. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

The Tale of Two Sons

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Matthew 21

“”A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.

And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.

Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

Matthew 21:28-32 ESV

Think of how deeply this parable must have resonated with Matthew. I can just imagine Matthew writing furiously, trying to record every word as Jesus spoke. Matthew had been a tax collector when the Lord called him. Yet, Matthew was a Jew, grieving that his fellow Jews were missing the Messiah! Matthew was like that first son who had said, “I will not,” but later had obeyed. Matthew himself had rejected the ways of God, but later Jesus had “changed his mind and he had believed” like he wrote in verse 32.

I’m so thankful that the Lord led Matthew to record this parable for us. And I’m doubly thankful that the Lord has made a way for those of us who were once running headlong away from God – like Matthew and like me – to enter the kingdom. Let’s pray for those who think they are following God, who are saying with their lips, “Oh, yes, sir, I’m going,” but who are heading the wrong direction, trusting in their own good deeds to be saved, rather than the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I lift up before Your throne of grace those who think they are following you, those who think they are heading toward you, but will one day hear, ‘I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” I pray that You would open their eyes and soften their hearts to the truth that we can only be saved through trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Wake them up to this reality before it’s too late. In the Good and Gracious Name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

Come to Me and I will give you Rest

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Matthew 11

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29 ESV

I don’t only love this verse today because “Come” is my 2023 Word of the Year. I love this verse because I am often laboring in my own strength. I often feel heavy laden. I am often tired and worn out and exhausted. I often need rest.

Yet, if I were sitting across the table from you and I said to you, “I’m so tired. I really need some rest. What should I do?”

And your answer to me was, “Oh, sister, I hear you! Here, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you take my yoke upon you? That will make your life easier.”

After wanting to laugh aloud, and after thinking you must have taken lessons from Job’s friends, giving me very bad advice, I might remember Galatians 6:2 ESV — “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” And then I would sincerely thank you and ask you to pray for me and ask you to do some small tasks for me like cook a meal or drive my child somewhere, for that would surely be a blessing!

It certainly is a blessing to have friends to plow alongside, to labor in the field with. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two for a reason. We need friends to help us along this road of life.

But, unfortunately, you cannot truly relieve my burden, for you have your own burdens to bear.

Only Jesus can carry the yoke for me.

Only He can make my burden truly light.

Let’s pray.

Lord, I come. I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet. I cast all my cares upon You. I know that all my striving is for nothing, for Your purpose will stand for You are sovereign and all powerful and all knowing and good. I trust You. I know that I will only find my rest in You. Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light because You are the almighty God, ruler of the universe, who sees me and knows me by name. My soul finds rest in You and You alone. Amen.

I Cast All my Cares – Psalty

Loving the Lord More Than Anyone or Anything

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Matthew 10

 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:34-39 ESV

What do I love more than Jesus? Sleep? Chocolate cake? My phone?

Who do I love more than Jesus? My mom and dad? My friends? My kids? My husband?

Who is on the throne of my heart? Who rules over my thoughts and my actions? Who am I living my life for?

It’s a lot to think about. Let’s pray

Lord, help me to love you more than anything, more than anyone. Make me willing to lose what I love for Your name. Show me today what that looks like. In the name of Jesus Christ, the only worthy One, Amen.

Christ is Enough

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Matthew 5-6

Bear with me, please, as I silently ponder aloud some thoughts from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

  • Is Jesus enough for me?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I have to manipulate others with anger or bitterness or unforgiveness?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I need to lust after that person or that thing or that circumstance, thinking that is the key to my joy?
  • Can I be satisfied in Him? Or do I need the praise and accolades of man? Do I need good health and good food, nice clothes and nice friends to be happy?

I can just hear the Father whispering to me, “O, Kim, you of little faith. I am enough for you. Trust Me. Look at those birds making their little nests and pulling worms from the ground. Look at those flowers poking out from the dirt. I am taking care of them and I’m taking care of you. Fear not for I am with you. I am enough. You, seek Me. You, trust Me. You, pursue Me. I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll take care of you.”

Please pray for me to cast all my cares on Him and to trust that He cares for me – that He takes care of me and He cares for me. Truly Our Father is a good, good Father. He is Enough.

Enough – Elias Dummer