Mommie Support – FaithFueled™ Mom

Meant to be together

I don’t think I realized my need for a community or friends until I left college. When you’re in a social setting that surrounds you with opportunities to create friendships, it’s easy. Then I got married, had a baby, and moved six hours away from my friends, family and the life I had made. I went through seasons of life in a flash. We lived in Massachusetts and my husband was following his career aspirations and worked long hours. I stayed at home with our newborn daughter and although I wasn’t alone I felt very much alone. It took years to make friends, which were just mom friends of children that my daughter grew up with. There were a few lasting bonds as our children grew older but nothing like my good ole college days.

A change of heart

Six years later, we moved back to my hometown and I reconnected with old friends from high school. Then, I began to follow Christ and suddenly my love affair with the Lord began to come between my friendship. As I became more acquainted with Christ the people I chose to spend my time with weren’t those old high school buddies.

1 Corinthians 15:33 ³³Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

I needed to be with people who had similar interests and beliefs and had more to offer me than a high bill at the bar during happy hour. I needed people who believed in what I believed, Jesus. Again, that yearning for companionship began and I started to look at the only place I knew, church.

Being new to Christ, I was amazed at how hard it was to find people who I could connect with beyond the pleasantries of chit chat at church. I finally thought I had connected with another mother of three children who ages were the same as mine. It was great to have someone to relate to on multiple levels. I confided in her struggles and suddenly she severed ties. I am still not sure why and it is very awkward at church; I could have questioned myself, what I say? Did I do something?

There are no perfect people: Especially Christian church goers

Matthew 15:8-9 “‘These people honor me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me.⁹They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

Of course, there is more detail to the story but it’s not worth getting into. I did learn though, not every one at church has the same heart; others have ulterior motives. I later learned that this women has a history of befriending new members and then abruptly ending the friendship; using the guise of friendship to help grow her direct sales business and then inexplicably moving on. (We all have our issues, no perfect people right?)

Needless to say, I was disappointed but we shouldn’t give up.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Someone for everyone

I began attending women’s bible studies at our church, hoping I could find women in Christ to learn, grow and bond with.”Turning the other cheek,” on my past experiences and moving on. Through women’s bible stduy, I would fullfill the need for fellowship while growing in Christ-win-win, right? In my group their was a good mix of new believers and old but I couldn’t relate to the women personally (spiritually,yes) and it wasn’t the companionship I was seeking.

Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise,for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Although, the knowledge was what I needed in my spiritual walk. After a year with the study group, I did find someone that was also seeking a group of women to fellowship with. We had similar personalities but in different seasons of life. God kept connecting us in various ways to fulfill our need for a friendship with a women in Christ. She wasn’t what I thought I was looking for but she was exactly what I needed.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,just as in fact you are doing

Do you think it is important to have Christian friends or it doesn’t matter what they believe? Is it hard for you too to find Christian friends?

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Where are we creating faith in our families?

Where are we creating faith in our families? I ask this question because I heard a sad but not startling statistic which I feel that I was apart of it one point in my life. 69-94% of Christian children raised in the faith leave the faith within 2 years after high school. The number one reason those young adults leave is due to “hypocrisy”. I was one of those young adults. I was raised in a very Christian religious home but when I went off to my Christian college about the middle of my freshmen year I left my faith and sought out my spiritual guidance in the world (and got very lost for 13 years).

I was apart of the ”drug problem” that most families subject on their children. I was “drug” to church every week to dress up and show up but never having that same experience at home through study or prayer. My family was Monday-Friday sinners and weekend Christians. When it came to having my own freedom to choose I chose the world and not to my faith. Now that I am an adult and very faithful I don’t want the same for my children. I want my three daughters to live a life for Christ for the rest of their life so I was again researching how do I break the cycle.

Where do I create faith? I found an answer through a parenting bible study by Tim Kimmel Raising Kids with Faith that Lasts. This lead me to the word Deuteronomy 6:1-2 (NLT) “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, ²and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. There is one true God and we are called to live in a loving relationship with God.

Now when you are in love, everyone knows it. Not only is it written all over your face, your acts but it’s all that you can talk about. As we live our lives as Christian parents are we showing our love for God? Children are very observant and they pick up quick the easiest way to see if you’re expressing your love is to ask your children? They will tell you right away. So, ask them Who is Mommy in love with? If they are to little you’re in luck you can now start everyday showing your child the love affair that you have with our Lord. They will never know anything different and just like the little sponges that they are they too will be in love.

We as Christian parents must encompass being a Christian as an identity something that cannot be separated with us. This is where our children’s faith begin. Deuteronomy 6:6-8 (NLT) ⁶And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.⁷Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ⁸Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.⁹Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I think sometimes we rely on the Church to teach our children because we feel ill equipped but we have more than enough tools to set the foundation of faith for your children. Be in love with God every single day. Talk about him at home. Show it when you go about your day. Pray with your children, study with them, and show them the love. Do all these things and then also go to church. This will foster the relationship add fellowship and reinforce the things that you learn and study at home. Faith cannot be taught to our children it must be caught, similar to a cold. Infect your family with faith and love.

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