My Commitment

On 10 March 2013 we had our little girl Baptised at Our Lady Of Fatima, Caringbah.  My Husband and I were brought up in the Catholic Church and our Daughter's Baptism was a very special family day.  One of the beautiful aspects of having our Daughter's Baptism was that it was an opportunity for us to make a commitment to bring up our little girl to know and love God.  We as parents have made a choice and a commitment to guide our Daughter to live a life of faith. 

 

One year later (on the same weekend) on 9 March 2014 we had a Dedication for our little girl at our Church.  This was very special as it was a chance to reinforce our commitment.  We were grateful that our friend and Pastor, Kym was able to lead the Dedication.  I was also happy to be able to pray for our little girl and our dear friend Pam also prayed for our Daughter and our family.

Some of my favourite verses that we reflected on in preparation for our Daughter's Dedication included -

* Deuteronomy 6: 4-7 “The LORD is our God, the Lord alone.  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.  Repeat 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.”

* Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you.  Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work” says the Lord

* 2 Corinthians 3:18  “Our lives gradually become brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”(I love love love this verse)

* Mark 10:14-16 “Let the children come to me” “Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.”

* Numbers “May the Lord bless you and protect you.  May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.  May the LORD show you his favour and give you his peace.”

 

Then this year on 8 March 2015 we had a small afternoon tea with Kym and Pam from Church.  It was really special as I wanted to honour our little girl as a Child of God, celebrate her and confirm our commitment. 

We will continue to acknowledge our commitment and celebrate our little girl on the same weekend every year - it will be an important date in our calendar.

Apart from the commitment we have made to bring up our little girl in the Church, to learn about God and to encourage her to follow Jesus, I also made a commitment on Christmas Eve last year to be Baptised at our Church.  While I was Baptised as a baby and first felt a sense of coming home to my faith in December 2010, it was such a special moment at my Baptism last year, to officially celebrate my decision to be a Christian.  It was really special as I was Baptised by Kym and it was definitely memorable with my Husband and Daughter sharing this moment with me.

Reading Matthew 4 this week was great when I was reading about the Baptism of Jesus "After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.  And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.' " (Matthew 4: 16-17.  I find it interesting that the Baptism of Jesus is the first story we read about Jesus as an adult, where he intentionally set out from Galilee to the Jordan River to be Baptised - he made this commitment - "Jesus said 'It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.' " (Matthew 4:15)

Reading this and reflecting on this story of Jesus makes me happy that I have chosen as an adult to be Baptised, that I have made this commitment.

And so how does this commitment look like practically, day to day?  Well this is my journey of discovery - I have made the commitment to be a Christian myself and a Christian Mum, where I have made a commitment to study and learn and be active in my faith.  I am realising that through the great times and the challenges, God is with me.  There are the highlight moments - driving to Church and singing and dancing in the car, to 'My God Is So Big' with my girl and spending time at Church together.  And there are the tough moments - when I am tired after work and it is late and my little girl doesn't want to go to bed, and I am cranky - these are the times I forgive myself and pray for reassurance.  

Since making my commitment to follow Jesus I feel blessed by his presence which has been life changing for me and also for my family - Praise God!

Praise God for making me a Mum (and thank you to my Hubby)

After I was married, I was praying and praying that God would bless us with a precious baby. We also had friends from our Church and my Aunty Joyce praying for us. I had complete faith that I would be a Mum.

When we found out that I was pregnant, my Hubby and I were so overjoyed - this was our dream come true.  I prayed every day through my pregnancy - praying specifically for the development and growth of our little baby.  I love the verse "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex." (Psalm 139: 13-14).  The image that I held close to my heart was the image of Jesus holding our baby - I knew this to be the truth - that our baby was safe in the loving arms of our God.

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When I first held our little girl in my arms, I felt so incredibly happy and felt so blessed - our baby - a miracle - God's gift to us.  The first night I could not sleep (I actually did not sleep since I was so excited), I kept watching our little girl - she was so so beautiful - she was ours - thank you God. 

As I write these words "thank you God" - these words, any words, do not seem enough.  And so the best way I can show my gratitude to God is to follow Jesus, to study the life and examples of Jesus, to be brave and confident in declaring that I Am A Christian Woman and that I Choose To Be A Christian Mum.  I am claiming and naming myself - I Am A Christian Mum - I am making this commitment in reverence to God.  This is my chosen journey.

I have always been a person that loves to read books and I have a lot of books - most of my books since my twenties have been on self-development.  Yet since becoming a Mum I have read less books - firstly because I have had less time, also because of Google, yet mainly because I have learnt to trust myself and my intuition, which is governed and guided from the Holy Spirit.  What a gift to A Christian Mum - the Holy Spirit - 24/7 available to guide me.  And I have also discovered the power of prayer and the joy of having a personal relationship with God - what a gift to be able to feel the presence of Jesus with me in every moment.

Before I became a Mum I did buy a few books from a local bookshop, where I was recommended 'The Complete Buddhism For Mothers'.  When I see this book on my bookshelf, it seems strange that I did buy this book.  Soon after, in my conversations with God, I felt inspired to write about being A Christian Mum.  Of course I challenged this calling - who am I to write about being A Christian Mum, especially since I am still learning about what it means to be A Christian.  Why Me? In my Church community and Life Group, there are so many other incredible women - they seem to know all of the Bible stories, and know passages off by heart and know how to pronounce all of the unusual names - and they have been living a Christian life for so much of their life - perhaps they know more - they should be writing this Blog. Yet God reminds us and prompts us and encourages us - and so here I am.  Here I am to share my unique journey - my quest to learn and grow in my faith - my commitment of I Am A Christian Mum.

I am now discovering and enjoying and loving the greatest book of all - the Bible!  I am making the commitment to read and study God's Word daily as part of my journey to live and be A Christian Mum. It will not just be about reading the Bible - but about being inspired through God's Word - what is God specifically saying to me - what is relevant for my life and my role as a Mum.  Today I was at a Christian bookshop and I was buying books for my little girl and my nieces and was looking around to see if I should buy any books for myself - and I felt the whisper of God "read the Bible, read the Bible, read the Bible - spend time in God's Word".  I heard it - loud and clear! 

The journey of every Mum, the journey of every woman is unique.  This is not about me feeling like I have all of the answers or telling others how to be a Mum - this is about my journey - this is about me choosing to be A Christian Mum and this Blog is about me being active in learning, reflecting and sharing.  I am handing over my complete trust to God - I choose to follow him.  My greatest prayer is that I can model being A Christian to my children, that I can love like Jesus, and that they too will enjoy a close relationship with Jesus - I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.