Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas

Testimony of Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. Awesome book and amazing class

I decided to take Sacred Parenting class for several reasons. One is because I LOVE Lynn Wray and the other was because it was a parenting class with a different take on what parenting is all about. I have three boys, 4, almost 3 and a 5 month old- all boys. I often get caught up in the how-to’s and the what-if’s and the guilt and uncertainty of not doing it right. I think just like any mom, I fear the worst and wonder if I am doing anything right. Lynn and Sheryl were so candid and genuine sharing about their own families and how God showed up and intervened in every stage of their parenting. They so lovingly and tenderly reminded us that it really isn’t about us at all. It’s not even about our precious children. It’s about God working in and through us and in and through our children to draw us closer in relationship to Him.

Motherhood is more special than we give it sometimes I think. It’s not just something every woman does. Motherhood is the perfect way for God to teach us who He is. We moms sacrifice it all. Our lives consist of laying down our own desires to pursue another’s. Is this not what Christ did for us? He not only made the ultimate sacrifice, but His whole life was sacrificed for His children- us. What a connection to see our role as moms to Christ’s role on earth. It brings such gut wrenching feelings of gratitude to me instead of resentment about what I may not be getting. It brings love and understanding (even for the difficult child) not because we need to work on being patient but because Christ is that way with us. He chose for us to develop long-suffering and to walk the hard road to build in us the very character of God. How amazing! It was so refreshing to hear that real moms struggle with motherhood and that it’s a good thing because it builds in us the character we want to pass along to our children to posses when they have their own children.

One particular chapter really made a huge impact on me. It was entitled “A Very Boring Chapter in the Bible (That Can Change Your Life Forever). It talks about Genesis 3 where it goes on and on about so-and-so lived x amount of years, had a son with this name, so-and-so had other sons and daughters and then died. I always thought that was included in the bible to show the lineage of Christ (which is a part of it) but like so much of God’s word, it’s more than that. It’s to show that we all live, have children and then die. There are no exceptions to the rules. We like to think that we’ll have all these things that all our descendants will remember us by. The harsh reality is that we will only be remembered by our children and maybe their children. Shortly after that, our legacy is so simple- we gave birth to make a way for them to be born down the line. As I sat there in class I can’t even begin to tell you how humbled I was. What a sobering thought; that we aren't as important as we think we are or will be. Even presidents and extremely famous people will too be forgotten. Gary Thomas (the author) goes on to say that although we won’t have historical importance, we can have relational significance through our children. Learning to think generationally instead of individually is so counter-cultural but this is the heart of God. Through this truth we can then focus on what’s really important, on what’s really going to last- a lasting legacy through the generations after us. This is what sacred parenting is all about and I was so impacted through this class and material to really embrace the sacred trust of children that God blessed me with (yes- even that difficult one!) and to remember that although the days are long the years are short and I will soon miss this terribly.