Mission of Motherhood

I have started reading a book called The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson and I must say that this book is convicting me in so many ways. I don't usually read many mothering books because I have found that there aren't too many good ones out there. I find most of them cheesy and fluffy or they make me feel like if I am not the perfect Proverbs 31 woman then I am not adequately doing my job as a mother...but this book is none of the above. It came highly recommended to me from several sources and I am so glad that I decided to read it.
Psalm 127 has always been a favorite in our family. It says "Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate."
I have read those verses many, many times. God says children are a blessing, a reward, and a gift. And even though I would definitely agree with God, I realized that I do not always treat my children as such. In her book Sally talks about straying from God's perspective on children and she says a "... consequence of straying from God's plan for children is that they come to be regarded as a burden, the often-inconvenient by-products of sex. When the mission and reason for having children is lost, they easily come to be seen as a time drain, a monetary expense, a career impediment, and a curtailer of personal freedom." I don't think that I have ever thought of my kids quite so harshly, but in moments of selfishness I have sometimes thought that they are inconvenient. For example, when I am grocery shopping with 3 kids- I often think that I could be much more productive and efficient if I was by myself or there are some days when I have had about all I can handle of making the toy animals dialogue between each other and I get tired of having endless conversations with people under the age of 5. Sometimes I just want to have a normal adult conversation. My kids follow me like little ducklings around the house- they go wherever I go and most of the time this does not bother me, but there are times when I just want to take a shower or go to the bathroom in peace. There are times when I want to get in the car and drive away for a few minutes so I can think my own thoughts without being interrupted; and I sometimes find it frustrating when I clean the house and the very next day all my work gets undone by little hands. So, in reading this book I have come to realize that there are times when my perspective on children is closer to the world's perspective rather than God's.

I have been thinking a lot about why God considers children to be a blessing, a reward and a gift. The most important reason I can think of is that God teaches us about our relationship with Him through our relationships with our children and spouses. I don't think I fully understood my relationship with God until I got married and had children. God expresses Himself through relationships, which is why all through the bible he uses the child/parent bride/bridegroom analogies when he teaches us about how we are to relate to Him. Now that I am a parent I completely understand how frustrated He is when we are disobedient and how glad He is when we are obedient. I understand through my marriage how God desires intimacy and He wants us to seek Him and long for Him. And I understand through my husband and my children how badly God wants our hearts. God blesses us with marriage and children because they are a reflection of our relationship with Him. So, I have decided that I need to daily and prayerfully surrender my selfishness and give myself wholeheartedly to my family. I want my heart to be aligned with God's perspective on children and marriage, not the world's.