Sara Daigle - Mothering with Purpose Devotional: 90 Days of Encouragement for Moms on Mission with Jesus

Copyright 2022 by Sara Daigle

Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

Print ISBN: 978-1-68099-712-5

eBook ISBN: 978-1-68099-796-5

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to my own dear mother who raised ten children with fascinating graceall of whom call her FRIEND.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

B eing a third-born child in a family of ten children had me well acquainted with taking care of babies, and I entered the mothering world eagerly. There was little adjustment to having my own babies because I had helped my mother take care of my younger siblings for as long as I could remember.

I was going to do just what she did: homeschool, always be a stay-at-home mom, and be my daughters best friends even in their teen years.

I drove an old minivan so I could afford to be a stay-at-home mother. I homeschooled and embraced the whole bake-your-own-everything kind of lifestyle. And I loved my children like none other.

Then, my world fell apart. The years of doing everything right had to be replaced for a trust in the only One who is always right.

My husbands choices led him away from our home and into a romantic relationship with a young girl whom we all considered a friend to our family. There are no words for the strain this placed on my children, nor for the aftermath of devastation on all our lives.

I went to work and the children went to public school. They reeled, I struggledbut we survived, and we learned, and we knew that, though life can be altered by another, it can never be destroyed by another.

In the past three years Ive told my children many times over, No one can ruin your life except you. You have the strength to get back up and live a beautiful life.

I held them when they cried, faced their deep hurt and anger when it erupted, and all of us spent many hours in therapy sessions.

After a few years of struggle, I made a move from the west coast to the east, landing in the dead of night in a major airport with myself and the children to start life over. We moved to an area where we knew one other family, settled into a house we had never seen, and started searching Google for maps to the closest schools and grocery stores. COVID-19 hit right afterward, and the rest is history.

Along with my children, I struggled to survive until Jesus set me free from the grief that would have destroyed me.

There, I learned all about grace.

There, I learned that Jesus wants to be trusted more than we trust certain methods.

There, my eyes opened wide to the fact that God was moving in all kinds of places and peopleand that the answers are not the same for every mother.

Homeschool was no longer an idol.

I bought food rather than made it.

And Jesus became altogether lovely in the face of tragedy.

Regardless of your circumstance, I invite you to gaze with me into the face of Jesus Christ, Who alone can restore your heart while you drive the children to school, or wait with them for the bus, or teach them at your kitchen table.

Jesus wants to be everything for us mothers.

Parts of this book were written while I was in one world, and parts of it written while I was in another. Jesus Christ met me in both. He steadied me in both. He taught me that grief and gratitude are friends, interlaced, working together with one purposeto behold the Lamb ofGod who takes away the sin of the world and overcomes the effects of it, as well.

And He comes to each of you, inviting you to incredible peace in a life not your own. The Son of Man will always rise over everything that goes down.

It remains then, that your greatest need as a mother is not a perfect method, but a deep understanding of a Perfect Master.

As Eric Gilmour so beautifully says, Jesus Christ is greater than His gifts, more wonderful than His wonders, and more precious than His promises.

All is grace.

Love always,

Sara

INTRODUCTION

W atch your step, Mama!

I look ahead to this man-child of mine, the one with broad shoulders holding a head mature for his age. They call him an old soul.

He makes me happy. And today, as I follow him down the slippery dock coated in green wetness, he warns me not to slip. He could have warned his sister, but he thought mostly of his mama.

In our days jam-packed with small things, we get to carry the greatest meaning of love our kids will ever know apart from their Savior. God uses the love of a mother to describe His love for His children.

I love watching big, burly, bearded men cry over their mamas. Theyre so tough, so strong... but the thought of Mama still makes them tear up.

A few years later this same child is talking even bigger. Mom, if we were in danger I would shoot the bad guy, throw you on my shoulders, and carry you away to safety. Also, Id shoot deer for our food. Id take care of all of us.

I look at him, taller than his mama now, and realize he would do exactly as he said. But then comes the punch line, In a case like that, Id actually be your boss, Mom!

I smile, and agree with him. Id listen if he knew what to do and I didnt.

Mothering four children takes every ounce of strength I have, yet allows me to love with capacity I didnt know existed before I became a mom. Daily, theres a twist and turn of events that need wisdom. This book is meant to spur us on in knowing just how much a mother means to her children and how much responsibility we have in raising them.

As my friend Kate says, We cannot afford to absorb lies no matter how comfortably they rest on our shoulders.

Our character as mothers affirms in its private life what we proclaim in our public speech. The call for today is that we become aware of and fully embrace our impact for tomorrow.