Vision

We hear a lot about vision in business life and perhaps in our spiritual walk too – how do we get where we need to go if we never decide what the end goal is? So, here’s the truth – it’s the same in my journey as a mother. I can say, ‘I want to be a mum’, and once I have a baby think we’ve arrived! But press in. There’s so more we can get from this.

Vision for motherhood can look like so many things. The 8 years it took us to conceive the child that we were sure God had promised us, pressing in to pray for the miracle that month after month, we still weren’t seeing. It can look like sharing that vision of motherhood with wise friends around you. Bringing them along with you on the faith journey as you decide to foster or adopt, having people lifting your arms with their prayers when the longing and waiting seem too heavy a load. It can look like nurturing that character of a mother in you by getting alongside young adults in your church, encouraging, and discipling those new to their faith.

Vision for motherhood can look like, having had a baby, deciding the kind of mother you’ll be, and the environment you want to create for your child to thrive in, and the kind of friends you want around to inspire them. For me, my vision for my daughter is that as I strive to make the world a better place for her to live in, she would grow up knowing she can, and will change the world. I want to raise a difference maker – but I want to do all I can to set her off to a flying start by living the example of a world-changer myself.

Big goals, right?

It also must be tangible. It must be applicable to my everyday life. Take your vision for your big picture goals and break them down into things you can and will achieve. ‘Hold on a moment’, I hear you say, ‘you’ve just turned our big faith-filled vision into a to-do list. Where’s God in that?’

Jesus talks in Mark 4 about the farmer that sows, but that the seed continues to grow from that point whether the farmer watches it or not. We need to cover all we do in prayer, invite the Holy Spirit to breathe into every conversation and interaction we have, but we also need to get some seed in the soil. Any farmer will tell you there are set times of year for each type of seed to be sown and crop harvested. And in Proverbs 16:9 we’re told that we plan our course, but God is the one who establishes it. So, let’s make plans to partner with Jesus.

Make choices that move you towards your vision – read your kids’ books of Bible and social justice heroes. Change your shopping choices to reduce your environmental impact on the world your kids will inherit. Even composting can become a holy choice, when it’s powered by vision.

Don’t be intimidated by the word ‘vision.’

Take a moment to evaluate your motivation.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you which motivations you need to amplify in your life.

Then take it a step further – make them more intentional – and let those purposes overflow into every area of your life. Vision for motherhood can look like, having had a baby, deciding the kind of mother you’ll be, and the environment you want to create for your child to thrive in, and the kind of friends you want around to inspire them.

A Prayer for Mothers: 

Lord, you created us for the purpose of relationship. As we look at the mothers around us, bless the vision they treasure for their relationships. Help them point their kids to you, whatever their ages. Let your Holy Spirit speak to them and guide them in the nurture that each of their children needs. Help them plan to partner with you, intentionally sowing good seed into the lives in their care. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Prayer as a Mother: 

Lord, thank you that you made me a mother. That you allow me to nurture a life, a child, and you trust them into my care. Help me to partner with you to raise them, first, to treasure their relationship with you, and then to nurture all that you have created within them. Help me see, not just what is immediately before me – the tantrums or messes – but to see the strength and creativity waiting to be encouraged within them. Help me plan well for them and give you space to take control and establish their steps. Thank you that you have equipped me to be their mother, but that you also promise to help me, to be with me, while I fulfil this calling. In Jesus’ name, amen.