Mommy Boot Camp...Attention!!

Motherhood Memorial #5:

I'm back!! Well-rested!! Rejuvenated!! 

I was on an Internet Sabbatical, these last few months, and experienced a period of restoration, preparing me for this New Season of God's miracle-working power in my life, and especially in Motherhood. Thanks for your patience!!

Recently, I attended a brunch for moms. One of the speakers commented that God grows us moms while we grow our children. Proverbs 22:6 says, "train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." So, God trains us mommies, while we train our children. I like to think of this training as Mommy Boot Camp. It can span a minimum of 18 years (if you have one child) to over 30 years, depending on the age gap between your children.

Do you find that there are new sets of rules, regimens, and restrictions in motherhood? Are you being tried in discipline, structure, consistency and strength-training exercises (how long you can go before your next "mommy-break"? Ever feel like you are holding your breath...waiting for the tiredness, nonstop demands being made on you, and the scroll-length to-do list to end? Well, welcome to Mommy Boot Camp!! Now, you probably didn't get a proper welcome and instruction manual indicating what you were really in for. But don't fret--I'm here to help catch you up to speed!! 

The real victory in succeeding in the training course called Mommy Boot Camp, is that You become fully dependent on God's grace, which is sufficient for you to prosper in this season of life. (2 Corinthians 12:9) What you must keep in mind is that your success in training up your children depends fully upon your development into the matured daughter that God has predestined for you to become. That should actually help you to breathe a little easier--knowing that you fulfill your call to motherhood by focusing on your own personal spiritual maturity, hearing God and obeying what He tells you (James 1:25). Just as we are to "imitate God, therefore in everything [we] do, because [we] are His dear children" (Ephesians 5:1), our children are going to imitate us. Thus, the best gift you can give your child or children, is not love, but your most genuine and sincere imitation of God and reflection of His Word (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). Remember, you are exchanging your conditional, worldly "love" for God's unconditional agape love as you are rooted and grounded in the sacrificial love of God through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:17).

Now, I'm just here to explain the basic details of Mommy Boot Camp...but the Holy Spirit of Grace is truly your Guide and Helper. There are five essential steps that GRACE is going to take you through, and at the end, you will repeat the process...over and over again...until you have arrived. And if you are towards the conclusion of this training course, think of Apostle Paul, who said, "I don't mean to say that...I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me." (Philippians 3:12)

Grow--Our primary objective in Mommy Boot Camp is to grow up spiritually!! We all know exactly how "old" we are according to our calendar age, but how many of us take a periodic assessment as to which category we fall in when measuring our spiritual maturity? Are you a newborn, infant, toddler, preschooler, school-aged, adolescent, young adult, or matured adult? How long have you been exercising your faith-muscles? God instructs us to be equipped "until we attain...to a mature man [or woman]...as a result we are no longer to be children...we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15). To excel in this first phase, we must commit ourselves to this maturation process. We must prioritize God first, which includes maximizing our time with God through diligent and daily prayer, praise, worship, devotional reading, Bible reading, attending church services, and being active in serving our local church and neighbors.

Reverently fear God--Mommy Boot Camp promises to bring you into deeper fellowship with the Almighty God. And as you are humbled in God's presence on a more consistent and frequent basis, you learn to rest in the reverential fear of God. As you learn to trust God and grow in your love for God, you are positioned to experience God in a greater way. Psalm 34:11 says, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD." Also, Pslam 86:11 says, "Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name." After setting yourself to grow spiritually, the Holy Spirit of Grace can then teach you about who God is, who You are in Christ Jesus and what God has promised you in His Will.

Acknowledge areas of sin & weeds in your heart--Humbling yourself before the awesome greatness and power of God sets your mind to receive the truth regarding the various areas of weakness in your unrenewed mind and the unkempt sections in the garden of your heart. If you do not assess your areas of weakness, you are not aware of the places to apply God's strength, His Word. The reverential fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or wisdom, according to Proverbs 1:7. Now, the Holy Spirit of Grace can begin to reveal to you the places in your heart that require the Word of God. "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind," says Jeremiah 17:10. I like to pray, "God, show me me!" So, let the Holy Spirit inform you of sins and all ungodliness in your thought life and actions. Confess those sins and God is faithful and just to forgive you (1 John 1:9)! Jesus said that every plant that His Father did not plant would be rooted up (Matthew 15:13). So, let God root up any pride, rebellion, depression, or whatever he reveals to you that Satan is responsible for sowing into your heart.

Change/repent--Once you confess those sins, use your free will to decide to change directions. If you were going South, it's time to go North! If you used to "cuss" to explain how you felt, then it's time to get out a thesaurus and clean up your language. If you never liked to clean your dishes, it's time to make a daily appointment to clean them. Always late? It's time to prepare two nights in advance, and leave your house an extra 30 minutes earlier!! After Jesus was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness, He entered His ministry preaching these words, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) You cannot overlook this important step!!

Exercise the Word via Biblical meditation--Now it's time to exercise in diligence, consistency and patient endurance as you renew your mind. Apostle Paul instructed us to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind." (Romans 12:2) How do you renew your mind? Just follow the example outlined in Joshua 1:8 NLT, "Study this Book of Instruction [the Bible] continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." To meditate the Bible, is to ponder, to say aloud or to whisper repeatedly to yourself the Word of God. I usually write scriptures on note cards and carry them around. You might desire to set a goal to meditate and hence memorize 3-5 scriptures per week. Memorization is one sign that you have been feasting on God's Word through meditation. Another sign of fruitful meditation is a change in your speech and actions. Instead of yelling, you speak calmly. Instead of watching 1-2 hours of t.v. each evening, or spending countless hours on Facebook, you spend that time studying God's Word, attending Bible study or praising God!

Like I said before, once you've made it through all five steps, you repeat the process. I've been in the Mommy Boot Camp process for a few years now, and I am enjoying a close relationship with my Father God Almighty, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit like never before! I've had to end relationships, career paths, friendships and even take a hiatus from some family members, in submission to God and the promise of Mark 10:29-30 "There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Be bold and fear not!  God is with you!

How is your experience of Mommy Boot Camp going? Any suggestions for thriving during this maturation process?

Thanks in advance for sharing!! Until the next MM...Warrior-Priest-Queen Miriam