Courageous - Being Daughters rooted in GraceSample

Over the years, as people showcase their aspirations through celebrity-making television programs, I have noticed that the temptation to sensationalize everything we do is hindering our joy and our contentment. We think we can or must go from being a stay-at-home mom to a YouTube phenomenon by recording everything we do and posting it for all to see. As you think about social media, consider your limits. What helps you stay content where God has placed you? What causes you to stir internally and externally? Removing wide-spread access to the more private moments of your life shows your daughter what is valuable and worth protecting.

In God’s economy, extraordinary living can look a little old school, especially if we put the standard up against the world’s standard. We need to recognize that nothing is too small or too ordinary in God’s kingdom. The heroes of our faith are the individuals who put one foot in front of the next and did only what God was asking of them in the moment. Mother Teresa is one of my heroes. 

She realized that by loving one person at a time and helping them die with dignity, she could change the world. Her desire to do something big was fulfilled in the simple love of caring for those right in front of her. She got it. She did not have a platform on social media, yet the world heard about her over time as she was faithful in the small things. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).

There are simple ways you can let your daughter know the value of ordinary moments, such as letting her interrupt the occasional phone call or a task your occupied with. Pause what you’re doing and look her in the eye. See her. This tells her she is more important. The planned encounters where moms and daughters gather to pray, read and discuss the Word, do a craft, and talk are the ordinary moments when she feels your love the most. At the end of our lives, these are the moments—not the accomplishments or accolades—we will not regret having made.

Write a list of the ordinary moments you experienced with your daughter this last month. Praise God for those moments and recognize the gift this has been to you. Create new ones together.