Confessions of a Lazy Mom

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Yes, you didn’t misread the title.  Personally, one of the biggest things God spoke into my life while in Trujillo was the fact that I had gotten lazy about discipling and showing spiritual discipline to my own kids.
What I saw in Peru
As I saw how kids were able to, through the IncaLink ministries, learn to not just love God, and respect God, but to also develop ‘spiritual muscles’ in the form of Bible verse memorization, relays on finding Bible Passages, Reading the Word out loud, with pride, and with conviction and talking about things that come from God, I felt God was giving me a glimpse at my own life.

Flashbacks
I felt I went through time…and one of those girls was me.  I remembered how more matured Christians had invested in my life to show me about what being a disciple was all about.  I remembered how God used these people to show me vulnerability, community, but most of all, discipline, hard work, and focus.  They pushed me to study God’s word, to develop spiritual habits, to become Bible literate
And the bonus…..I was able to meet with a few people from my childhood…they were not just ‘good friends’….these were people who lived by example, who taught me well the ways of God and who continue to affirm me, challenge me and cause me to choose God in everything


Confessions with a contrite heart
At first all those thoughts were nice and warm…and I simply thanked God for them…but then God wasn’t done with me….He also caused me to see where I was now, and what I had done with the blessings He gave me.
Are you using them to show your own kids the way?
The answer, sadly, was a flat out no
Because I realize that I have gotten careless…mindless…and lazy.  I tell myself I’m too tired at night.  I tell myself the Kids can read themselves and don’t really need me.  I tell myself the ‘disciplines’ is what got us in trouble…that kids grow up without a true understanding of God
So, how was Peru, you ask?  It was great…but great doesn’t mean it wasn’t full of awareness and moments of painful confession
But from the confession I’ve newfound hope and passion.  New vision.  Blinders are off and my task now is to pray that in God’s mercy, He keeps me focused.
Dig deeper – Blinders off
The week I came back home I decided to test what I already really knew in my heart – that my kids are entering pre-teenage years and are Bible illiterate and have a shallow understanding of who God is…and because of that, how can they have a clear and true picture of who they really are?
So I asked them to sit together in the couch….they brought their Bibles and I told them we were going to play a game of who could find a verse fastest.  We reviewed the order of the gospels and a few of the letters and my aim was to give them passages related to salvation
I was shocked….(but why? it shouldn’t have been!)
  • The majority of the pages in their Bible were stuck – because they had never been touched by fingers
  • They had trouble finding the books
  • Once they found the chapters they were not used to skipping verses to get to the right verse
  • They didn’t read them with the certainty they read novels
  • They told me they didn’t understand a lot of the passages
Let’s start
The beauty is that after confession, I received much grace.  And so there was a lot of hope of what we could become now.  I told the kids we would try to do devotions and that we would read all the passages suggested in the devotional book.

What transpired in the next week was beautiful.  I saw, even in a short span of a week, an increasing desire to spend time together, to read God’s word.  I saw them begin to grapple with TRUTH, and to understand it as we let the Spirit work, for the Word of God is Alive!  I saw them become familiar with their Bibles, and my daughter began to highlight her favourite verses.  I heard beautiful prayers that were honest, heartfelt and real


The challenge
Will we be able to keep this on?  I can’t guarantee, but I think learning to be vulnerable with my kids, we will be able to help each other be accountable.  I am sure we will struggle, especially when September hits and I’m back to work and they are back to school but let’s pray that the amazing experience of being IN HIS WILL and Hearing from Him directly keeps us wanting more….
Every day…..

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