By Streams: Enduring Nourishment for Days of Motherhood
An average parenting moment over here might include a toddler calling from the bathroom to be wiped just as the baby wakes up from his Very Short Nap and I step in a sticky patch on the floor while I’m on my way to track down an all-important toy that is the current heartbreak of a two-year-old.
If you are in these exhausting, glorious days like me, what does it mean to be, in the words of Psalm 1, “a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and [whose] leaf does not wither”? What does it mean to draw water from the Source of living water in hours of days that seem like they will never end and moments in which it seems you can never meet half the demands which stretch you so thin? How we exercise faithfulness begins in the life of our minds and in the renewal we are promised as children of God.[1]
The Life of the Mind
In Ephesians 4, Paul describes the Gentiles who “[walk] in the futility of their minds,” “darkened in their understanding,” and “alienated from the life of God”. He describes them as “callous”, “given up to sensuality”, and “greedy to practice impurity”. This builds to the contrast of those who have “heard” and been “taught in [Christ]” to put off their old selves.
This is us. We need the transformation of our minds and we need to be taught to escape our own “former manner of life” and “deceitful desires”. The work of sanctification starts with what we know to be true and works itself out gradually into our lives as rainwater seeps down slowly to reach deep roots needing sustenance. If our minds are not being renewed each day in the image of true righteousness and holiness we cannot expect that our actions and the words of our mouths will show much practical change into the image of our holy God.
Seen in this light, motherhood is a gift custom-designed by an all-wise and loving God to bring out the impurity in our lives and refine our dross. The practicality of this renewal is painful as our sin is exposed in hasty words, short tempers, and selfishness. But the ordinary proving grounds of kitchen sinks, difficult naptimes, and impossible attitudes are the very tools God uses to grow us into His likeness and to work out the heavenly, eternal realities which are ours in Christ. These are the places He shows us His grace and compassion because of His Son.
If we find that which is honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable in Christ, to remove Christ is to remove the source of life and flourishing. Our leaves wither and die in the parching winds of anxiety and discontent and all other vices to which our hearts are naturally turned. Following our inclinations is the path of least resistance—the easy path.
Are You Paying Attention?
One of the words we have highlighted recently in our house is “attentiveness”. It is amazing to me as the mother of a two and four-year-old how many of their pressing life problems might be solved if they simply listened and heeded the words of my mouth. But as I remind them (usually) patiently of this over and over and over, I am humbled to remember that their inattentive failings are true of my own heart as I forget to remember and believe my Saviour’s Words of Life in my daily moments of sin and weakness.
It has been these places where I have seen the greatest faithfulness of God to me in my life, and these places which birthed the book Mothering Against Futility. This is a book written from my place of need as I learn to cling to Christ and believe the Words of His mouth, and I pray it might encourage you too as you walk your own path of daily obedience.
Temptations as a mother can seem insignificant and trivial. Is it really wrong to want more sleep? To wish my children obeyed? To be worn thin by continual calls to disciple and discipline these small people? So often we are faced with temptations not to inherently evil things, but to create idols out of things which are actually good and right.
The dryness of our hearts as mothers can be from particular seasons of trial or simply from the multitude demands on our bodies, emotions, and hearts that come along with this calling. Which is why I am drawn to the compassion of our Lord while he talked with the woman at the well. He was pointed and honest about her sin, but in compassion He held out hope:
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. - John 4:13,14
When our hearts are failing and all around us is the dryness of spiritual summer, we can be like established trees whose roots reach far down and are not daunted by temporary dryness but flourish with vibrant green leaves. Looking for satisfaction from the fleeting pleasures and satisfactions around us simply feeds our idols and in a few hours our hearts are already looking a bit droopy and yellowed around the edges.
The Promise of the Righteous
A potted plant forgotten in a corner of the yard will die in the heat of the sun, but our Lord never forgets to sustain those who are His. As Psalm 1 reminds us, “for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
This way of finding nourishment from the Words of God’s mouth is not a formula, but a promise that Christ will go with us in this life and that His Spirit will bear the fruit of these things in our lives.[2] Jeremiah 17:8 captures well this word of hope to us mothers (and to all God’s people):
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.
[1] I am indebted for this insight to Luke Bennet from a recent sermon he preached at our church. Luke Bennet, “The Renewed Mind,” September 15, 2024, Camp Hill, PA, https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/grbcws/sermons/91724117465771/
[2] Ibid
