Abba.

I want to have my quiet time as a blog today. As a mother, even if they are under the age of 3, I am constantly wanting to be the best Godly mother that I can be. That is some sort of a goal for me. I strive to be the mother that my children need, and more importantly I strive to be the mother that God wants me to be. And so as I was about to journal today for my quiet time, God was leading me to write all of His characteristics as Abba Father. The ultimate parent. And so I decided that I would blog it, instead of just write it in my journal....this way multiple people can be reminded of who the best parent in the whole world is, and who we should daily use as a parenting example.

In a world surrounded by fellow bloggers, and insane technological progressions, I have found myself at times being motivated and encouraged by other moms like me, young and old. To see what other people are doing often gets something going in our brains. Like maybe, "Ooo! That's a great idea. I could totally make that, or do that, or cook that!" Anyone know what I mean! Seeing other women put themselves out there allows us to gain new ideas and new creative insights on what we like or how we may want to do things. So...all that being said, it is hard not to sometimes see what everyone else is doing as a mom and not think, "Dang, I'm a sucky mom!" or "I will never be that crafty or holy or ______!" And I have fallen for it before and today I'm standing up to say...IT'S A LIE FROM THE MASTER OF DECEPTION. Satan is the king of lies. The Bible is clear about that. He knows our weaknesses and picks on us like a big fat bully. My eyes have been opened to that, and God wants me to be the mom that He wants me to be, using Him as an example rather than any other cool or crafty or holy mom out there that I might "follow."

So I am now going to make kind of a random, as the thought comes, list of the type of parent God is...therefore making a list of the kind of characteristics I would love for Kennedy and JulieAnne to one day say that I have!

~God never turns His back on us
~God ALWAYS listens to everything we say...stupid or important (I don't always listen to Kennedy's jibber jabber, but even when I jibber jabber and whine to God, He listens...hmmm.)
~God forgives not 7 times but 77 times if needed (Matt 18:22) do I?
~God keeps every single promise He has ever made...do I? "I promise, if you're a good girl I will____" hmmm.
~God is confident in us
~God never says negative or degrading things to us
~God disciplines us in ways that teach us
~God's love never fails
~God wants the best for us
~God (the Holy Spirit) prays for us (actually Romans 8:26-28 says that the spirit groans in prayer for us even when we don't know what to pray for!)
~God doesn't allow ANYTHING to stand in the way of His love for us
~God sacrificed for us
~God gives us peace and joy
~God protects us
~God is fair
~God teaches us and speaks to us in meaningful ways
~God doesn't care if our clothes match, if we have make-up on, if we smell terrible, if we're ugly, fat, sloppy, or whatever. He doesn't care! Priase the Lord rigiht?!
~God does care if that we seek Him, that we serve Him, that we love Him, that we tell others about Him, that we talk about Him, that we walk out what He teaches us etc....

And on that note, I want to end my list. Because, I think that last one is the clencher. God does all these things for us, and He is so perfect and amazing, but I think that the key is what we do for Him back. Because then and only then does He know that we truly love Him back and desire Him and His will. He can do all those things, and His love will never fail or change, but unless we are doing our part, then the relationship isn't complete. Isn't that what we want with our own children? What if Kennedy told me everything? What if she trusted me completely? What if she knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would always be there for her? What if she told all her friends about how cool and great I was? What if she shared with others all the things that I have taught her? What if she remembered the things that I taught her and they flowed freely out of her? What if she really did listen and obey all the time? I could go on and on! That's what God wants from us. He desires us to be the perfect child! Now obviously we are not perfect, but can we not aim to be? Certainly! It's a beautiful symbolic story this parent/child relationship. All we have to do is look at the type of Abba Father that God is and aim to be like that! Then we have to alternately look at the type of child He desires us to be, and glorify Him by helping our children to become that child. The one that God is proud of and brags on! The one that He carries pictures around in His wallet and shows people and says, "This one, she's my pride and joy!!" Can you imagine! I want to be THAT child of God!! He is such a beautiful example of a parent. I want to be like that! So the more I aim to be like God as a parent, the better child of God I will be, and the better children of God my children will be! Make sense?! lol. In my head it does. Hopefully on here it does too.

God let me be the Godly mother that you desire me to be, so that I can be the child of God that you want me to be, so that I can raise the children of God that you desire me to raise :) I am so thankful for your parenting instruction book. Your word. I hope that you are proud of me. I hope that you can one day pull my picture out of your wallet and brag on me to the nearby group of angels. I want to bring glory to You and You alone. I love you with all my heart. You are my number 1!

Making Papa Proud~ Rachel