Be Yourself!

I recently read a book entitled Desperate- Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe- and I highly recommend it!  Such a refreshing and uplifting read filled with so much wisdom.  "It is a life offering filled with encouragement, help and answers to some of your heart-wrenchingly honest questions."

The following section was written by one of the authors, Sally Clarkson.  I underlined and starred it while reading :)  It really spoke to me and I hope you are encouraged to be the woman, mom & wife that God creatively designed you to be.

"Determine for yourself what you hope to be the outcome of your family.  what legacies do you want to leave for your children?  Clay and I knew we wanted to pass on to our children the strengths we had nurtured in our own lives?  We wanted them to know how to think clearly, and so we chose a pathway that would expose them to great books and constant discussion of ideas.  We wanted them to have a personal relationship with the Lord, so we made plans on how to disciple them and reach their hearts.  Clay and I both loved and performed music, and so we invested time in music lessons, according to the inclinations of our individual children.  We wanted our home to feel like the best place in the world to them, so we planned activities, traditions, family feasts, games, and read-alouds.

If you do not have a plan or philosophy, then you will try to fit your life into other people's plans.  God has made each couple with the freedom to create their own family culture.  The sooner you decide to embrace your own values, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses, the more you will become who God made you and your husband to be.

Of course, it requires faith to be yourself, to embrace your own ideals and family design.  But living according to the voice of God's Spirit is always the way to freedom, joy and fulfillment.  Living by faith and cultivating your own purposes give you energy to pursue what is on your heart and to take your children along with you in advancing those ideals.

So all of you precious moms who will read this, be yourself; be the best and most excellent and most righteous self you can be, but live in the freedom of God's call and design on your life.  I love who you are and how God uses you.  When you learn to hold His hand and walk by faith and obedience, you just might find yourself in the Hall of Faith of those who followed hard after Him and were allowed to tell a story of faith in their lifetimes."