My Mom's Influence

My mother had a very strong influence upon my decision to become a pastor. I've sometimes wondered if I even made a conscious decision. It was like I always knew that was my calling. You see, from the time I was a tiny child, I remember her telling me that she prayed the Hannah prayer:

And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head." - 1Sam 1:11 ESV

G van den Eeckhout -Hannah  presenting Samuel

My Mom's firstborn died in childbirth. I was her second born and her pelvic region was damaged in giving birth. The doctors told her she could never bear another. In thanks for her only son she promised to dedicate his life to the LORD. So, as I said, she and my Dad did everything they could to direct my life toward the vocation I've known all my life. And for this I have ever been thankful.

There are many Biblical studies about motherhood on the Internet. Here's a sampling:

Mothers in the Bible - 8 Blessed Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well
These mothers lived in an age when women were often treated as second class citizens, yet God appreciated their true worth, just as he does today. Motherhood is one of life's highest callings. Learn how these eight mothers in the Bible put their hope in the God of the Impossible, and how he proved that such hope is always well-placed.

• Includes studies of  Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Jochebed (Moses' mother), Hannah, Bathsheba, Elizabeth and Jesus' mother Mary.

11 Bible verses about Motherhood

• Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her - Proverbs 31:28 ESV
• And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, To be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. - Titus 2:4-5 ESV
• Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. - Proverbs 19:18 ESV
• For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11 ESV 
• When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. - John 19:26-27 ESV 
• Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him - Proverbs 13:24 ESV
• Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. - Proverbs 23:22-25 - ESV
• O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. - Psalm 139:1-24  ESV 
• Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. - Genesis 32:11 ESV

The Majesty of Motherhood - Motherhood is undoubtedly one of the most complex and exacting callings in life. A poll among women revealed overwhelming agreement that raising children properly requires as much intelligence and drive as holding a top position in business or government. And that task falls mainly on mother’s shoulders for the first six years of the child’s life. Even after that, her contacts with the children will of necessity be more frequent and prolonged than dad’s. While dad is the leader in the house, mother sets the tone. The hours her children spend in her presence will have a lasting influence on their lives. They will become largely what she makes them. She faces the noble challenge of molding their young lives for eternity. Motherhood is one of life’s highest honors, and one of its heaviest responsibilities.

April Is National Child Abuse Awareness Month

April is designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, providing opportunities to raise awareness about protecting children. As budget cuts threaten the safety net of services for vulnerable families, there are many ways that communities can actively support children’s safety.

April is child abuse awareness month in Texas. 

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has kicked off a month-long campaign starting April 1 to stop child abuse and raise public awareness.  

Child abuse cases continue to climb and in 2012,  212 Texas children died at the hands of their parents or caregivers, and more than 64,000 children were abused or neglected.  There were 166,211 completed investigations and 16,972 children were removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. . . . 

Thanks to a federal grant,  The Department of Family and Protective Services is spending $1,000,000 on the campaign from now through the end of the summer. TV ads in English and Spanish are running on stations in all Texas media markets during Child Abuse Prevention Month. The online ad campaign runs from mid-March through the end of August. This advertising buy specifically targets young parents and especially young mothers. 

The ultimate goal of the Help and Hope campaign is to help Texas parents find the help and information they need in their communities to head off child abuse before it happens.
“I heard hundreds of child abuse cases when I was a district judge in San Antonio,” said DFPS Commissioner John Specia. “Many of the parents who came through my courtroom were young, poor, and stressed.  If we can get parents the support they need up-front, fewer will end up in court needing the help of Child Protective Services.” 

While prevention is best, always report child abuse or neglect. Don’t count on someone else to do something. Report your suspicions to the Texas Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 or online at www.txabusehotline.org. 

April is also child abuse month in North Dakota. Their website presents a long list of resources to help parents and others with this national problem related to domestic violence.

Prevent Child Abuse America, founded in 1972 in Chicago, works to ensure the healthy development of children nationwide. The organization promotes that vision through a network of chapters in 50 states and over 500 Healthy Families America home visitation sites in 41 states, all the territories, Puerto Rico and Canada. A major organizational focus is to advocate for the existence of a national policy framework and strategy for children and families while promoting evidence-based practices that prevent abuse and neglect from ever occurring. 

Quotes from Scriptures about raising children: 

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” - Genesis 18:19

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6  

 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. - Isaiah 54:13 

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. - Colossians 3:21 

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - Hebrews 12:5-11 - ESV

Children are A Blessing From God 

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.Praise the LORD! - Psalm 113:9

 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. - Psalm 127:3-5

 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. - Psalm 139:13-16

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. - John 16:21

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. - James 1:17

Read more: Bible Verses About Children- 25 Inspirational Scripture Quotes