Fear or Faith?

In Girl Talk, co-written with her daughter Nicole Mahaney Whitacre, Carolyn Mahaney writes of a time she and her husband were interviewed at a parents' meeting at their church.
   The moderator asked C.J. and me, "If you could parent your daughters all over again, what would you do differently?" It was not a tough question. While I am aware of numerous ways I would want to be a better mom, one thing stands out far ahead of the rest.

   I wish I had trusted God more.

   For every fearful peek into the future, I wish I had looked to Christ instead. For each imaginary trouble conjured up, I wish I had recalled the specific, unfailing faithfulness of God. In place of dismay and dread, I wish I had exhibited hope and joy. I wish I had approached mothering like the preacher Charles Spurgeon approached his job: "forecasting victory, not foreboding defeat."

...As women, aren't we all vulnerable to fear, worry, and anxiety? And few areas tempt us more than mothering. But faith must dictate our mothering, not fear. Faith, as it says in Hebrews, is the "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11:1).
  

   Faith toward God is the foundation of effective mothering. Did you catch that? Here it is again: Faith toward God is the foundation of effective mothering. Success as a mother doesn’t begin with hard work or sound principles or consistent discipline (as necessary as these are). It begins with God: His character, His faithfulness, His promises, His sovereignty. And as our understanding of these truths increases, so will our faith for mothering. You see, it is relatively easy to implement new practices in parenting. But if our practices (no matter how useful) aren't motivated by faith, they will be fruitless.   - Girl Talk, p. 65

                  
P.S. If you have a teen or near teen daughter, Girl Talk makes an outstanding book for a mother-daughter study! My younger two girls and I are going through it this year, and I so treasure the sweet times we are having on Wednesday mornings.

Comments

Unknown said…
Thanks for this convicting reminder. What is the name of the mother-daughter study?
Anne said…
Nicole - It's called *Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood* and is written by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter, Nicole Mahaney Whitacre.

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