Taking Captive to Christ the Everyday Moments of Motherhood

I just finished reading the book Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns by T. David Gordon. I enjoyed this book for so many reasons. It spawned some great discussions between me and my Rhetoric students, reinforced my love for hymns, and helped me see some areas in which I could improve my own songwriting. Despite all these excellent reasons, what I gained the most from Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns is practical advice about living life in a contemporary world and, of all things, motherhood.

I have two young children. I love them very much, and I delight in being their mother. I enjoy making them meals (tonight we ate corn dogs, french fries, and apples), tucking them into bed at night (for the all the hugs and kisses), and being there for all their scrapes, stories, and escapades. Motherhood comes with challenges, however. I usually feel like my brain is being pulled in a thousand different directions. Sometimes both kids are trying to talk to me at once, voices raised and feet stomping. And while they’re talking to me, I’m mixing together a batch of sourdough bread and stirring a pot of soup. Then, I get a text message and instinct kicks in and I go check my phone. All the while, I’m trying to come up with a fun review activity for my Physical Science students. Motherhood can be hectic, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

At one point in Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns, T. David Gordon writes, “Further, I am very self-aware of a value issue here: is something worthy of my (limited) attention merely because it occurred recently?” When I read this quote, I immediately thought of motherhood. More often than not, the needs of motherhood seem urgent. One child needs a snack, while the other child needs to finish his homework; one child wants to play dolls, while the other child wants to go outside. Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how to fit in all the other things I wanted to fit in to our evening together. I often find myself entrenched in the every day moments of motherhood, but far from the goals I’ve set for myself and my family. I get caught up in what’s happened recently instead of focusing on the big picture of motherhood.

What is the big picture of motherhood? The Bible gives a clear answer to this question. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The most important thing I can do as a mom who loves Jesus is to teach my children to love Jesus, too. Loving Jesus means understanding who he says he is ¹, believing he is who he says he is ², and then living a life that pleases him, marked by growth in holiness and defense of biblical truth ³ . I strive to set a godly example for my children and also to help them set up good habits they can continue with on their own as they grow up.

My kids know I read my Bible in my glider in the mornings before I come downstairs. Sometimes my daughter joins me and we snuggle up under a soft blanket together. I also started practicing Scripture writing this year, which means exactly what it sounds like it means; I write Scripture in my Charlotte Mason-style Commonplace Book, a notebook in which I record book quotes, poems, song ideas, journal entries, to-do lists, and reminders. I write the Scripture verses in cursive so I can find them with ease. I usually choose a verse or two from my reading for that day, something that stands out to me or something I’d like to commit to memory. My kids also know that moms sin, too. I have to ask for their forgiveness a lot, especially on school mornings when we must be out of the house by a certain time. I love what Elizabeth Elliot says about patience and time: “‘My times are in Thy hands.’ Quite often they seem to be in the people’s hands. When I wish for solitude and no interruption, the phone rings, people come, mail arrives that demands immediate action. Do I imagine that the interruptions come as a surprise to the Lord? Are they not, just as much as the planned things, a part of the pattern of things that work together for good?”

We pray before meals and before bedtime and worship God in the evening as a family. When my husband isn’t home in the evening, the kids and I work on memorizing Bible verses together and then we talk about how those Bible verses apply to our lives. We work with one child in particular on showing self-control, one of the fruits of the Spirit, and respecting other peoples’ personal space. We work with the other child on being content and communicating well. (I won’t tell you who is who, but you might be able to guess!)

These are the things that matter in motherhood; these are the big-picture things. The practical application side of teaching children to love Jesus might look different depending on the family, but what’s important is that parents model and teach, with intentionality and grace, how to love Jesus. This helps me keep those immediate wants and needs of my children in perspective, and also helps me react to them with love and patience instead of apathy or annoyance. If one child needs a snack while the other child needs to do his homework, we can all sit down at the table together and enjoy some family time, which will hopefully spark some good conversations that I can steer toward the gospel. If one child wants to go outside while the other child wants to play with dolls, I can use this as an opportunity to teach the children how to serve each other in love, as Christ calls us to do. Paul exhorts us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” ⁴As moms, we must also take every moment captive to Christ.

I know that my time with my children is limited. Sooner than I realize, my two young birds will be about to move out on their own and begin building their own nests. What will matter the most as they transition from children into adults? Not whether or not they got to play exactly what they wanted to play when they wanted to play it, or whether or not they got to eat precisely what they wanted to eat when they wanted to eat it, but rather their relationship with God. Do they know him? Do they love him? I hope that regardless of whether or not they remember my sourdough or my soup, they can answer yes to both questions!

1. John 1:1-5 ↩
2. Acts 16:31 ↩
3. 2 Corinthians 7:1; Luke 9:23-26 ↩
4. 2 Corinthians 10:5 ↩