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MOTHERHOOD FROM A 1 TIMOTHY 4:12 POINT OF VIEW
Salvation | I love my mom. She’s the coolest. Right after I was born, my parents made a resolute decision that they wanted to teach their kids about God. They realized they didn’t know much about Him—enter salvation and a new miraculous family adventure. It was messy but beautiful, my mom and dad discovering Jesus together with us.
Some of my earliest memories are sitting in prayer meetings with a bunch of adults experiencing the transforming presence of Jesus. They would speak of things they were reading in the Bible and how they longed to see and experience them. And then they did, and they never said I couldn’t. So as a three year old, I began to believe I could also know God. This is one of my favorite things about my parents. They brought me along, and I wanted to be there.
Purpose | A purpose driven life was me watching my parents live that life and realizing that God could relate to me and that He wanted to know me. I remember hearing a story about a man whom God would wake up in the middle of the night just to “hang out.” Though I was only ten years old, I asked God if He would do the same for me. Guess who began to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night? That’s right — it would be me sneaking into the bathroom to read my Bible.
I love that my mom and dad exposed me to these possibilities: destiny, purpose, life with God—I was all in. I always hoped I was destined for great things, world-changing things like David-slaying-Goliath kind-of things. That seemed glamorous. You know what’s not glamorous? Living in a van with a bunch of boys. Driving 8-10 hours a night, hoping today would be the day you’d get a shower. Did I mention this is how my marriage began? One week after I said “I do,” we entered the Skillet van years. We made a vow that we’d never have kids on the road. After all, this lifestyle would not be fair to them.
Dreams | I would repeatedly have dreams of a baby time and time again. Other people told us that they had dreams of John and I having a baby. It’s hard to explain, but I knew that having a child was God’s will before I even committed it to prayer. Then, it seemed it was time for Him to entrust this special little person to us. We were convinced that we were going to have a boy, until another dream, where God told me she was a girl, gave me her name, and spoke to me about who she was and what she’d do. My little Alexandria Christine.
Selflessness | Sometimes “great things” for God don’t look like we thought they would. Jesus said unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it won’t bear fruit—and if you want to be the greatest, learn to be the servant of all. I understood the beauty in this truth as I entered motherhood. I’ve realized that being a mom is the greatest thing I’ll ever do.
The facts that God knew my kids even before He formed them in my womb, that He orchestrated my marriage—not just for me but for them, that He saw fit to entrust those precious lives to me… I still cant wrap my head around this! And sometimes it looks unconventional, like raising a family on the road, but the best thing I can do for my kids is live a life of obedience and faith. I want to be like my parents, who led by example and who never discounted me because I was too young.
FROM ALEXANDRIA:
My mother is the best mom I could ever ask for! She sacrifices so many of her comforts, often just to help me. When I get scared, I can always talk to her. For example, she is willing to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to comfort me after a nightmare.
She is a hard worker and rarely complains. My dad and I also love making my mom laugh. We enjoy repeating the same jokes around her and she is a good sport by laughing each time (knowing that mostly, this just annoys her)! Mostly, I just love being with my mom.
Furthermore, mom makes sure that I will grow up living a life for God. She gives me great advice about what and what not to do in hard situations. For this I will be forever grateful. My mom is the best mom in the world!
Well done mom. You did good.