Warrior Mom: You Are More Than a Soldier

We have been discussing being a warrior mom this week.  This concept has challenged me after reading the book, Girls with Swords, this year.  Am I a soldier mom or a warrior mom? 

First a warrior mom is called.

Second, a warrior mom is faithful.

Here are my last three observations as a warrior mom.

A Warrior Mom sees through God’s Eyes. 

As a warrior mom I have to focus on what God is doing.  I must desire to see the world through His eyes.  Am I following His plan or I am fighting it? There are only two choices.  When I spend time in God’s word, I know God’s heart, but it is impossible for me to know what He is doing if I am not connected to Him on a regular basis.  On the contrary, the soldier only sees what the enemy is doing and follows the General out of duty. 

When my kids were little, they wanted their own way.  Do yours ever what that? During these seasons, I could only see what I thought the enemy was doing. Yelling ‘no’ at the top of their lungs. Our child was being drawn away and lashing out at me.  I thought for sure I needed to “whip him into shape”. But if I took a moment to focus on what God was doing, I would have adjusted my expectations accordingly. Our child was just testing his boundaries.  All of our children are born sinners and it is my job to help them find truth and to help train them in righteousness. But if I can take a moment and see God’s perspective, then I could still be his mom.  Love him and not need to be his best friend.  He argues and that is not okay.  Setting boundaries and loving them is the best way to reach their hearts. Remembering God loves them and created them for greatness helps me see the my children through His eyes.

A Warrior Mom controls her thoughts.

I love the quote from Lisa Bevere, “All Warriors understand all victories begin in private.“ When we are all alone or just alone in our minds, here is where the true battle is fought and won.   Here is where our character is tested.

As a mom, if the evil one can get you to:

            Feel like a victim, instead of a mom

            Feel like a servant, instead of a mom

            Feel like a basket case, instead of a mom.

            Feel like a failure, instead of a mom.

            Feel like a prisoner, instead of a mom.

Then he has won.

I love what the books says, “Warriors learn to trust the whispered call deep within, while the soldiers feel pressure to respond to the noise that surrounds them.”

By capturing your thoughts and taking them captive, God voice comes through much clearer.  There is less of an attitude of looking around at what everyone else is doing or listening to the voices around us.  If we are taking our thoughts captive, then the small still voice comes through.  I often miss it!

It takes the heart of a warrior to live up to the character God expects from us.  What kinds of choices do you make in private?  Do they live up to our love for God?  Are we really sold out to him?

A Warrior Mom takes action in her home.

The book says “Warriors speak bold words of faith and take action; soldiers give status reports.”

I have a friend named Betsy who complains constantly about things that are happening in her home.  She is upset at how her four year old daughter talks to her and is disobedient; yet, she continues to spoil her without any discipline.  She complains about her marriage; how her husband doesn’t do this and doesn’t help her here; yet, she doesn’t spend her time taking care of him either.  She complains about her house, her family (or lack of), her marriage, etc.  She just gives status reports without EVER speaking words of faith or taking action.

I love mentors in my life that encourage me as a mom.  I am the MOM.  Say it with me. I am the MOM.  It means I have the power to do anything in my home.  I can make it life-giving or joy-sucking.  I can create an environment of love or of exhaustion.  I CAN.  Everyone, your husbands included, are looking for your direction, your plan. 

My dad used to always say.  “Happy wife, Happy life.”  While I agree that is a good saying for our husbands to adopted, we should be saying to ourselves “Happy Mom. Happy Home.”

I am also the protector of the home.  I am a warrior for my kids in this culture.  I am not always liked by them.  I protect them from culture, from food choices, from media, from pornography.  These are my areas to take action.  I am the Warrior Mom – changing the world one child at a time!

What are you doing to be a warrior mom?

*Ideas taken from the book Girls with Swords: How to Carry your Cross like a Hero by Lisa Bevere

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

A Warrior Mom Is Faithful

We continue today exploring the idea of being a warrior mom versus a soldier mom. Yesterday, we dug into the idea of being called to be a warrior mom. Here is a fun story along those lines. . .

           Once upon a time, there was a little girl.  The youngest of five, she was the only girl.  Her family never thought of giving her too many girly things as it was easier to just let her run around “like one of the boys”.  Her mom had much to handle working full time as a single mom.  She didn’t realize her daughter was growing up with all things “boy”.  When she did stop and think about it, she thought it was easier to just let her play with balls and Legos.  Until her great Aunt Dorothy bought her a baby doll and the next year a princess dress.  This little girl felt a call, a longing for a world she didn’t know existed.

            One day her mom happened upon her, all dressed up rocking her baby doll and singing to her.  The scene would seem quite normal upon first glance; however, just behind the little girl, tucked into the sash of her princess dress, was her brother’s very large sword.  Her mom was startled and asked her, “Honey, why do you need the big sword?”  She replied in true warrior fashion, “Mommy, I have a job to do that only God could give me.  So I am taking care of my baby and am ready for anything”.

As I reflected upon this little girl in the story, I realized being a warrior mom comes from God.  We are called to be a warrior mom, not just a soldier mom who feels duty.  Here is another thought on the subject.   

A Warrior Mom remains Faithful.

In Girls with Swords: How to Carry your Cross like a Hero, the author explains soldiers are trained, but warriors are tempered.  And becoming tempered comes from living under pressure.

How do we stay faithful to our calling under pressure?

Having children has tempered me.  The definition of tempered is: to be made less intense or violent, especially by the influence of something good or benign.

Bruce and I attended parenting classes for 12 weeks before we ever had Christian, our first child.  While some would say this training was silly, we wanted to be prepared for our first attempt at parenting.  Once we had Christian, then Danika, and the rest, we began to realize even though the information we learned was good and useful, we could not just stick with the step-by-step plan.  We were trained, but what we needed was supernatural help. We were under pressure and we had to rely on God to give us insight on the children He had given us. 

We became tempered over time and trusted our kids and instincts to the Lord, which was more important than training. 

As true warriors, we have to take each lesson we learn on the path of parenthood.  We understand that the challenge in this last season was meant to build strength in our future and our kids’ future.  Cancer has been this kind of challenge for me as a mom.  Having cancer has taken me away from being a mom for hundreds of hours and has exhausted me for the days I have been available.  If I was not careful, I could become angry at God, distant from my kids or give up on the task of being an intentional mom for the sake of my health.  All of them have been tempting in one form or another.  However, I know the calling of being a warrior mom and I have accepted the call. I know cancer was meant to build strength in me and make me more like Christ.

Being tempered under pressure as a warrior mom has caused me to put my focus on prayer.  All the training in the world will not make my kids into Christ followers.  My parenting skills fail in many areas so I know they will need me to pray and be faithful to the calling I have as their mom.  Focusing on training and duty only makes me angry and bitter, but giving my children to God and praying for them helps me to be a warrior mom.  It does not mean I don’t train or take care of them, it just means I go beyond the things within my power and rely on the power beyond my own.  Relying on Christ to remain faithful to the call of motherhood.

In what ways do you remain faithful in times of pressure as a mom?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Warrior Mom: You Are Called

I live in a house full of knights and princesses. 

All of them resonate with the idea of a hero.

 As we study kingdoms in history and in our own Princess Parable books, I am struck with God’s plan for warriors and heroes.  Soldiers have uniforms.  But real warriors have weapons and tools for the job they have been called to do.  There is a very distinct difference between a warrior and a soldier. 

Who are warriors in daily life or even in imaginary life?  I think of super heroes.  Each one of them has their day-to-day routine and outfit.  There’s Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. Even Wonder Woman was Diana Prince.

And Jesus, whom they expected to wear armor and come to fight in this world.  Yet, he came as the most helpless into this world – a baby.  But he was a warrior, not a soldier.  He came to change the world and never picked up a sword, except God’s word.

Did you know you are called to be a warrior?

I love that we introduced our knights in the Easter book.  They are knights synonymous with honor, boldness, trust and faith.  Our princesses have the same character qualities because being a warrior is all a matter of the heart.

I want to take this idea of a warrior over the next couple days and reflect on motherhood.  What does it look like to be a warrior mom vs. a soldier mom? What does it look like to take the calling we have as warriors and place it in our day-to-day life – changing diapers and training up children?

A Warrior Mom knows she is Called. 

The difference between a soldier and a warrior is the soldier is drafted and the warrior is called*.  Not all moms feel a calling.  You can be a biological mom.  You can birth a child, suffer thorough baby stage and toddlers to just make it to school age.  Muddle through those teen years and send them off at 18 without ever feeling the call of being a mom – without ever seeing your position as one of honor and protection.  We have to accept the call from the Lord to raise them intentionally.  It is work!  But the truth is once you have a baby, God CALLS you to be a warrior mom. The easiest thing is to be the soldier mom.  Just doing the bare minimum, exasperated with your kids and waiting for them to be gone. 

I felt that way in the beginning.  I know I wanted kids but then the harsh reality of sleepless nights and postpartum depression kicked in for me.  I also didn’t have that instant heart connection.  I found I felt distant, but responsible.  I saw the weight of having a little eternal person, but I could see how easily it was encroaching on my plans, my time, my selfish life.

When I met Sally Clarkson 7 years ago, I didn’t own the calling of motherhood.  I felt a duty, but there is a drastic difference between calling and duty.  That is why I have continued to put myself around people who call me to a higher place of motherhood.  I read books that convict me to live intentionally as a mom.

Motherhood is not a hobby. 

It is a ministry and a conviction.

A warrior mom is sold out. 

She is not just waiting until her term is over.

She is in it for life.

Motherhood is her life calling.

Do you feel called or drafted as a mom? 

*Ideas taken from the book “Girls with Swords: How to Carry your Cross like a Hero” by Lisa Bevere

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!