Brave Mamas, Brave Kiddos

From the time those pink lines appeared on a 60 cent test from a Liberian pharmacy my husband and I talked about the things we wanted to instill in our child(ren). My husband, knowing his fear prone wife, made a point of saying that he wanted to make certain that we didn't raise our kids to be fearful people. I nodded my head in agreement and gulped back fear (ironic I know).

None of us want to raise fearful kids.

We don't want to have boys and girls who are anxiety ridden and live small, closed lives.

What maybe we don't realize is that our own fears register with our children. They do.

My great grandmother had a huge influence on my life as a little girl. She lived across the street and watched me nearly every day before and after school because both of my parents worked. She was an amazing cook and a sweet soul, but she was also fear ridden in the worst sort of way. It impacted my life in ways I've only realized as an adult. Her life imprinted such goodness on my life, but it also imprinted fearful living in a way that is tough to extract and kill.

I don't mean to say that we don't live in reality about the world we live in. Our world is broken and the worst sort of things can happen. There are things so ugly that we dare not speak them out loud, but if God is our Rock then we can't be rocked and we have to teach our children the strength of that truth.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1 John 4:18

That should also drive us to examine deeply the things we fear and the ways that we cope with those fears.

Has the love of God impacted our lives in such a way that we choose faith over fear?

Our children are watching our every move and they will see us when we are bent under fear. They will pick up on us preferring fear over the hope offered in Christ. We are the first Jesus story they will read and the one that will impact them most deeply.

We named our girl "Amelia" (she's Millie to her friends) and everyone always thinks of Amelia Earhart when we tell them her full name. She isn't her namesake, but as I've thought about it I think I like the idea of her having a bit of Amelia Earhart's spirit. That boundary pushing fearlessness is a great thing if it is directed and guided by Godliness.

The only way I can do that is if I model that same boldness in my life. I want her to say that Amelia Earhart was brave, but her mama is even braver.

We find the strength and determination to be model fearlessness in God's Word. Again and again we are told that fearlessness is only attainable for the soul who finds their hope fully in Christ.

Let's claim this passage as we live life in front of our children this week:

From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I 
Psalm 61:2

{Think about the areas of your life that you hold onto fear and how that fear might be spilling over onto your children on a daily basis. Pray bold prayers for your children that they would be protected and that they would be brave and bold in a scary world. Write out Psalm 61:2, put it somewhere that you can see and learn it as a family.}