The Beauty and Truth of Motherhood

It is a Sunday morning during church.

I watch my little girl coloring a page from her coloring book on the floor in my living room. We have a little house church so it is very casual and as I watch her I notice she colors the grass green, the sky blue, and the sun yellow.

I can’t help but wonder why she didn’t color the grass pink or purple, the sky red, or the sun green?

Because, she knows that is not the reality of nature.

She consistently sees grass green, the sky blue, and the sun yellow. She colors from what she sees and knows to be true, from the beauty and truth that surrounds her.

It catches me off guard in the middle of church. What kind of picture am I painting of His reality to them? Is my mothering surrounding them with His beauty and truth?

If they had a picture of Him, how would they color His reality with the colors I have given them? Would it come close to the truth of His character, to the beauty of His true being?

Do they see Him in me? That is the real question.

My children are surrounded by the beauty and truth of His divine nature found in and through His creation.

 “For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:20)

He has called me as their mother to display the beauty and truth of His character to them through my daily humble example in the home. But how? I am nowhere near qualified or adequate for such a high and holy calling!

 “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

If we abide in Him he tells us He will abide in us. This is my desire, to be conformed into His image and to lead by example my children to do the same. Taking the time to walk with Him and then with them.

I quickly become discouraged because I know I can never display His true beauty consistently for them, my picture of Him will always be flawed because I am a sinner in need of grace.

But here is the beauty and truth of motherhood: He doesn’t call us to be perfect. He knows we cannot be a perfect representation of Him. He simply asks us to know Him and give Him to them. They need to know that they are loved and forgiven as much as we do.

So when you fail as a mother to display His character, His beauty and truth to your children… take heart and give yourself the gospel and then give them the gospel. The gospel is always a sufficient parent to display His beauty and truth His children.

Kelli is a mother to 4 beautiful wild souls and a wife to the most amazing man on this earth. She lives in a fairytale that is destined to have a happily ever after because of the everlasting love of Jesus. She is an artist trying to get over her insecurities and desires to live bravely on the edge, chasing grace with which to paint her world colorful. She is a woman on a mission to capture the magic in her ordinary days and is passionate about filling the hearts of her children with the love of Jesus in the hopes of spilling over into the world. Kelli blogs at From The Inside Out, and invites you to come along on her journey to change the world.