Confident Moms, Confident Daughters By Maria FurloughSýnishorn

Day Seven: Our Jesus and Our Joy

Scripture: Matt. 11:28–30

How do we usher our girls toward Jesus? Matthew 11 tells us that Jesus is humble, gentle, and gives us rest. We are weary. Jesus is our place of rest. If what God says is true, then coming to Him allows our wearied and burdened souls to be given rest.

I wonder sometimes what my life would have been like if I had asked Jesus to come into my life earlier. What it would have been like for Matthew 11:28 to wash over me at the age of ten or thirteen or sixteen. What a relief that would have been to me. But I trust God with the fact that my wearied journey set me on a ferocious quest to give to my daughter what I did not have: rest for her soul.

Jesus is her greatest hope, and we have until she is eighteen to teach her about Him.

So many other things in our daughters’ lives will be louder, more frequent, and more intense. The friends, the boys, the school, the activities, and the screens. All pining for her attention, all battling for her spirit.

The truth is we can do everything right. We can nail the confidence modeling, throw out our mirrors and scales forever, serve only the most delicious and nutritious food for every meal, speak only encouraging words, and it will all fall short without faith in Christ. God and God alone is in the business of lasting soul change.

As a mom, it is unnerving that there isn’t much I can say to my children with complete confidence or without hesitation. As a momma who lost a baby, I realized years ago that I cannot protect my children from pain. Or stop it from coming. Or be there all the time for all things. But I can give them Jesus. I can show them the power of healing He has had in my life, I can model for them how sweet it is to have solid truth to build my life on, and I can teach them what Jesus has taught me. It feels so good to be able to give them something so solid, so reliable, and so beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Beginning today, commit to praying over your daughter as a regular part of your days and weeks ahead. Ask God to share with you what His vision for your daughter is.