I love and wrestle with Ephesians 6:4- “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.“

I struggle with that verse. I embrace it at times……..desiring to train my children in the instruction of the Lord. And yet other times I exasperate myself wondering if I’m being a “good” mom, a “successful” mom….wanting to correct and train yet not cross the line of exasperating my children. Have you been there too? Are you there now?

Besides the bible, another book God has used tremendously in my life as a mother is Sally Clarkson’s The Ministry of Motherhood.

God has used her book to rock my world with quotes like these…..

“He allowed Peter to fail spectacularly so he would finally understand that grace was the key to serving God and his kingdom. Not by his own strength and courage, but only by God’s constant grace and mercy would Peter be able to deliver Jesus’ message to the world- a message that would then be wrapped in the grace and mercy he had come to know so well.”

“Perfection is not a standard he requires of me as a mother, for his grace extends to me as well as to my children.”

“But instead of just telling them what to do, harshly commanding their allegiance with orders and threats or guilt and manipulative statements, he chose to tie the cords of his heart to theirs with the strong and unbreakable bond of a loving, serving relationship.”

“I realize my love and service to them must come before any of my great words, my teaching and training. My time, my attention, my “soft-tickling”- even when I am tired or have other “important” things on my mind- is what builds our relationship and prepares them to listen to what I have to say.”

I have enjoyed this book so much that last summer Courtney and I chose The Ministry of Motherhood for our GMG summer reading! It truly is wonderful and a MUST READ for every mom who wants to love her children well and train them up in the instruction of the Lord.

So why am I telling you all of this today? For two reasons.

1. Last week Sally launched a new blog called Mom Heart Online. Here’s a little description of it:

Mom Heart Online

The ocean of “mom blogs” on the Internet seems to grow wider and deeper every day. You already know that it is impossible to follow every good blog you find as you surf that ocean. If you did, there wouldn’t be much time left for mothering! So, you are right to want to know what makes Mom Heart Online different. Out of all the wonderful mom blogs wanting and deserving your attention, why should you visit us here? Why is it worth your valuable time to spend time here.

​Mom Heart Online is spiritual harbor. We’re here not just to bring you in to stay, but also to send you out to sail. We are a place any mom can come to be encouraged, equipped, and enabled as a mother after God’s heart. We are here to inspire and engage your heart with great content that calls you to a high vision for your life as a mother, to create an online community of moms where you can network and interact with others who share your heart, to train you how to easily start and lead your own Mom Heart Group to continue in life what you find online, and to provide quality and original materials and resources that will fill your heart and mind with life-changing wisdom and truth. That’s why!

I adore Sally’s heart for moms and am honored to be a contributor there (and many of my favorite bloggers are contributors too – Ann Voskamp, Courtney from Women Living Well, Joy, Sarah Mae, Ruth)!! Check out the list of amazing Contributors here.

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Congratulations to last week’s Love & Respect winners: Christine and Sheeba!!! (Christine I have already sent you an email and Sheeba I sent you a Facebook message!) So excited for the two of you! Please email me and/or Facebook message me back so I can send you your books! Praying God uses them to bless your marriage as much as it has mine.

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This week read: Ephesians 6:1-9

Digging a little deeper: For those of you who would like to learn more about these verses this week, I’ve provided a few resources below for you to use to help you…….dig a little deeper!

1. John MacArthur

a. Ephesians 6:1-4: God’s Pattern for Children-1

b. Ephesians 6:1-3: God’s Pattern for Children-2

c. Ephesians 6:3: God’s Pattern for Parents 1

d. Ephesians 6:3: God’s Pattern for Parents 2

e. Ephesians 6:3 The Key to Maintaining Family Unit

f. Ephesians 6:3: God’s Pattern for Parents

g. Ephesians 6:4: Shade for Our Children 

h. Ephesians 6:5-9 God’s Perspective on Work 

i. Ephesians 6:5-9 Spirit-Filled Labor Relations

2. John Piper

a. Ephesians 6:4 Raising Children Who Hope in Triumph of God

Until next time…