Stage Mom of the Year I Was Not...

​Mary, the mother of Jesus, kept many things stored in her heart as they related to Jesus:
 

• Luke 2:18-19 says, “All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”
• Luke 2:33 says, “Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about Him.”
• Luke 2:51 says, “Then He returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And His mother stored all these things in her heart.”

​I know how Mary felt to have His things stored up in your heart. Mine is overflowing. 

The Bible says in Psalm 127:3-5, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”
 
Children truly are a gift from the Lord and He is the One who creates them. He is the one who knits these precious children together in a mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13) and He is the one who creates each child with talents and gifts and it is the Holy Spirit within each person who gives spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
 
Mary knew she was carrying the Savior. She knew His purpose. Most of us have no earthly idea what our children’s purposes are for their lives. We can hope and pray…and yes, sometimes even try and manipulate. If we, as adults, enjoy working within our God-given talents and gifts, how much more should we also let our children do the same?
 
I am not the perfect parent. I do not have parenting completely figured out. I make mistakes daily. Each and every morning I have to pick myself back up and pray for my children. I pray for their safety, for their health, for my attitude towards them and for help from the Holy Spirit to be the best parent I possibly can be. However, often times, my most frequent prayer is not for their immediate needs that are being met, but for their futures. I pray and ask the Lord to protect them now so that they may be useful for the days, weeks and years to come. I know that today has enough worry (Matthew 6:34), but I firmly know that the choices they make today, will effect their futures.
 
While it is true that they are just children and they will have enough time to be adults, God clearly can use children at any age for His purposes. Jesus came to this earth and was born as an infant and grown up as a child and was used even then. Rabbis and shepherds would marvel at His presence and His words. Simeon (a prophet) and Anna (a prophetess) proclaimed Him as Savior. Young children ran kingdoms and a teenage boy, David, battled a giant. Although society and the world would try and abuse children and tuck them away, God sees children as useful vessels. We, as parents – as a society - need to allow our children to be utilized for God’s purposes for His glory through whatever it is He has created them to do.
 
This past Sunday night, I was able to sit and marvel in the presence of God and at the work He is doing through my teenage son. My son has always enjoyed music and has been playing piano by ear since the age of three. He found his gift of singing at the ripe age of seven/eight and has since added many other instruments, song writing and music production to his resume. Without fail, when someone learns of his gift, they ask my husband or I if either one of us (or anyone in our family) is musically talented. I love the fact that we can say, “No (not that we know of)” and give God all the credit for creating him this way. Without this, I am afraid that I would be likely to fall into the sin of pride.

​I tried to describe this the other night. After my son ended his fundraising concert, one of my friends said, “You must be so proud.” I tried to describe how it was not so much being proud of him that stood out, but just that same kind of amazement Joseph and Mary must have felt when people spoke of Jesus. I was also completely overwhelmed with the goodness of God. Things could have turned out so much differently for my family. We could have kept on living “in the world” instead of Jesus getting a hold of our hearts and allowing us the opportunity to “live in this world, but not be of this world” (2 Corinthians 2:3). This thirteen-year old boy was able to lead a room full of children and adults into the presence of the Holy Spirit through songs of worship. Most of the time, I forgot that it was my son leading worship because I was just so caught up worshipping in the Spirit. Someone said yesterday, “Oh, I bet you got a lot of pictures.” I had to respond honestly and say, “No, I think I only got two or three because I was too busy worshipping.” Stage mom of the year I was not!
 
The spiritual gifts and talents God has already bestowed upon this child are just amazing. The adults who worked with him respected him as though he were a peer, he organized the event almost completely by himself and he allowed himself to be confident and engage because he allowed the Holy Spirit to give him strength, peace, courage and confidence. Is my son perfect? No, there is only One who is perfect. Am I perfect? No way. That’s what I love about Jesus. He uses imperfect, but willing vessels, to glorify and magnify Him. There is so much to be seen in the work of the Kingdom if we will allow everyone to work within their gifts and talents and shine for His glory. 

​Honestly, at thirteen-years old I had no clue what I was doing. However, I know without a doubt, that God will use this child to lead people to Christ and to lead people to a deeper relationship with Christ through music. Let’s pray for the musicians God is using and raising up to be at the forefront of our battles: 2 Chronicles 20:21-23 says, “When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for His loving kindness is everlasting.’ When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.”
 
We each have a part in the work of the Kingdom. My prayer is that each one of us is doing our part to glorify and magnify Him – whatever part that may be. Colossians 3:23 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (Emphasis mine).