Motherhood and Work

1--The Vocation of Motherhood from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Great article on motherhood!

I read a wonderful article on mothering and Christmas on John Piper's blog, www.desiringgod.org. It is written by Rachel Jankovic who writes one of my favorite books, Learning to Love the Little Years.

If you know me, you know how imperfect I am and how I do not desire to pretend to be someone that I am not. When you read my blog, I hope that you see my imperfections and my flaws, but I also hope that you see my heart. I am human after all! I desire to be what God has called me to be and strive every day to live a life that reflects the glory of Christ. That means I strive to reflect Christ in even my parenting. However, there are many days where I lose my cool and have to bend down and ask forgiveness from my kids and my husband. With that said, I hope that I'm not one of those bloggers who appear to have the perfect family where everything goes perfectly and where I make my readers feel like they just haven't gotten the hang of this thing called motherhood. If I've done that, then I'm incredibly sorry! I'm still learning and figuring it out and making mistakes and probably always will. I'm learning how to be more flexible and not so hard on myself and to let go of that thing we call "mommy guilt" that is often used to make us feel like everyone else has it more together than we do. In fact, the one I struggled with was the feeling that several people I know seem to have their house spotless, watch their kids, have dinner on the table by a certain time, sew, read, blog, and homeschool (along with all that each of those entails), and play with their children. I'm so thankful for my mentor because she pointed out that that's probably what certain people want us to view them as and behind the scenes, they are probably just as frazzled. But letting go of what you think you should be and your idea of what motherhood was supposed to be can be hard, especially when there's not really an immediate reward or acknowledgement from it.

Anyway, read this article if you get a chance. It's very encouraging! Check out her book, too. The article is Of Kids and Christmas.

Day 21 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Reread this verse. What do you notice about the position of Jesus' name throughout this verse? This name of Jesus that gets thrown around so flippantly these days holds power. When you say the name of Jesus, do you think about that? It's the name above all names!

Day 20 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

When reading the words to this song, think about the fact that Jesus is a stem from the lineage of Jesse. Jesus bloomed in Bethlehem and continues to bloom within our hearts when we receive Him.

Lo How a Rose

Lo how a rose e'er blooming,

From tender stem hath sprung,

Of Jesse's lineage coming,

As saints of old have sung.

It came, a flower bright, amid the cold of winter,

When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,

The Rose I have in mind,

With Mary we behold it,

The virgin mother kind.

To show God's love aright,

She bore to us a Savior,

When half spent was the night.

Day 19 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Matthew 1:18-25

(18) This is how Jesus, the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

(19) Joseph, her fiance, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

(20) As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

(21) and she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

(22) All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

(23) ”Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

(24) When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

(25) But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Day 18 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Joy to the World

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.



Day 17 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Matthew 2:1-12

(1) Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking

(2) "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

(3) King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

(4) He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

(5) I"n Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:

(6) 'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'"

(7) Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.

(8) Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him , too!"

(9) After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

(10) When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

(11) They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

(12) When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Day 16 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

"Believe it or not, a Christmas carol describes Herod's horrible deed.  Set in a minor key, this haunting lullaby, with words from a song written in 1534, is titled 'Lully, Lullay,' but is often called 'Coventry Carol.' The song originated in Coventry, England, where the local crafts guild performed a pageant depicting Herod's slaughter and the subsequent sorrow.  During the pageant mothers sing the children to sleep with 'Lully, Lullay' so Herod's soldiers can't find them.  The words themselves sound like a mother lullying her baby to sleep."--Ann Marie Stewart

Lully, Lullay

Lully, thou little, tiny child

By, by lully, lullay

Lully, Thou little tiny Child

By, by Lully, Lullay.

O sisters, too, how may we do for to preserve this day

This poor young ling for whom we sing

By, By, Lully, Lullay.

Herod the King in his raging, charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight, all children young to slay.

Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee, and ever mourn and say

For thy parting, nor say, nor sing,

By, by, Lully, Lullay.

Day 15 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

To understand the birth story, we need to understand a bit about Herod. Here is a short rundown. Very short, I know, but feel free to study him for yourself.

• Ruled Judea from 37BC until his death in 4BC.
• Known as Herod the Great.
• Known for his impressive architecture. He used Jewish labor to complete his designs.
• He lived in a multi-story, fortress-like place. it was called the Herodium. It was strategically placed to sit on a hill so that he could see the entire region from his palace.
• He was a horrible person with no regard for human life.
• He married ten times.
• One of those times of marriage, he actually married a woman from the royal Jewish family. Ironic, huh?
• He had his uncle, mother-in-law, (favorite) wife Mariamme, father-in-law, his three sons: Antipater, Aristobulus, and Alexander, his barber, and a close friend all executed.
• He had the high priest and his brother-in-law drowned.
• Five days before he died, he had 3,000 of Jerusalem's most respected citizens arrested and ordered for them to be executed when he died. It has been said that he wanted the people to mourn on the day he died, even if it wasn't necessarily for his own death.
• He had all children, age 2 and under (including his own son) killed because he was afraid of losing his position as King. It is believed that 30-60 children who lived in a village of three hundred were killed. The range is said to be between 200-2,000, though. Despite the true numbers, that is a lot of mothers with broken hearts, wailing for their child. I can't even imagine the grief that was heard that night.

Taking all of this into consideration, can you see why the wise men could have been afraid to NOT return to Herod? They could have been executed for their disobedience. However, they followed God and chose to return home via a different route.

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Info taken from Preparing My Heart for Advent by Anne Marie Stewart. She used the information from Vander Laan and Focus on the Family Video (video production) and from Joseph J. Walsh's book, Were They Wise Men or Kings? The Book of Christmas Questions.

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

The Christmas Singing (Chapter 1 Excerpt)