He Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart: For Mothers

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

— Psalm 37:4

Plans. Goals. Desires. Outlooks. Decisions.

We all have all of these things in some form or another. Many of us can sit here and say that we have a clear, definitive plan for our life and for our children. Others can say that while we may not always have a clear plan and path, we may have goals and ideas that establish our future.

How many of us can say that there are many things in our life that look vastly different than previously imagined? Perhaps your career looks nothing like your college diploma says it should or perhaps you went for one child and ended up having five children. Maybe you thought you’d never give up your corporate job to be a homemaker and yet, here you are. I can say from my own experiences - everything from parenting to birthing and my choice of work, to even the style of my home decor, things look different. Meet the girl who swore she would have a modern style house with crisp lines and trendy things, turned the housewife who lives in a nearly 100 year old farmhouse who collects vintage items from thrift stores.

One thing that I have noticed is sometimes life takes turns, curves and hits road blocks because of a wild “feeling” that you’re chasing; especially when it comes to parenting. A desire you feel or a longing that seems meant to be even though sometimes it’s scary, intimidating or even something you swore you’d never do. But what if the desires of your heart weren’t there because you just dreamt it up on a whim one day, what if the desires of your heart were placed there by someone other than you?

I think no matter where you’re at in your life, your faith or your relationship with God that you can experience the supernatural fruit of the spirit. The desires placed on your heart can (and most often probably are) the desires of God for you; even though your relationship with God may be struggling or hardly around. You may be in a place of darkness with what feels like little to no relationship with Jesus Christ and yet a desire may be there to bring you out of that darkness.

What if that desire to bring you out of darkness completely transforms your life in ways unimaginable? What if that darkness turns into a light that shines not just for yourself, but for your family too?

What if the desire on your heart leads to growing your family even more? Or perhaps a longing to have your children in church on Sundays when previously that meant very little to you? What if suddenly the Lord is calling you to leave behind the ideals you thought were normal and important, only to embrace things that seem scary but powerful? What if the desires of your heart put you into a place to answer God’s call for you or for your children? What if for once you have to stop worrying about what others will think of you, and embrace the path the Holy Spirit is leading you on?

I’ve learned that by growing in intimacy with Jesus Christ, that while I may not always hear Him just lay it all out for me, that sometimes the Holy Spirit is slowly working to show me exactly where He wants me. He lines up His will with my desires. It’s a place of understanding that sometimes the desires of our heart no matter how odd, scary or big they are, are there because He sees something greater for myself and my family than I could ever imagine. After all, He knows where I am meant to be, it says so clearly in the psalm 139:13-16 that all of my days are already known to Him.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Our days have been laid out before us before they ever came to be, same for our children. And while sometimes the enemy comes in and changes the course and influences our mindset or brings about sadness, there is a plan for each and every one of us. Those desires we feel, those callings we feel called to do, or those goals that suddenly make it into our daily calendar, are often times the result of the Holy Spirit working for us and our children.

It’s not always easy to embrace whatever desire may be on your heart or whatever change you feel God stirring in you. For some of us, we may ignore it or pretend like it’s not there. We may know God is telling us to do something but we are intimidated, so we pretend it hasn’t happened; or perhaps we even argue back with Him. Following His plans is not always supposed to be easy, it’s part of trusting Him to see where He takes us.

When I feel like there is a huge desire on my heart, especially one that seems intimidating and involves our children, I sit with it for a long time and pray. Some of these desires are two years in the making, others I’ve noticed were there from the moment I had children and they are just now blooming into life right before me. And yes, they are scary. But didn’t He provide the greatest parenting book of all? Doesn’t He fight for us and our children in times of need? Doesn’t He perform miracles daily, showing His endless love for us and for HIs children? Why wouldn’t we trust him?

Parenting places us in a position to make some of the biggest decisions ever. Everything from our careers, the amount of overtime we take on, the schooling we choose for our children, our medical decisions and so on greatly impact the lives and future of our families. There’s so many huge and impactful decisions left in our hands and all of us are just trying to do what is right for our children and right for our family. We all want to raise healthy, successful and compassionate children. And it’s hard when the world is telling you to do one thing, but your heart is pulling you with a soft whisper to do something else. How do you break free from the ideals society has set upon us? Especially when those “ideals” break away from the greatest parenting book we have ever had?

You pray. And you pray relentlessly and you grow with Jesus to jump into the unknown with unwavering faith. You parent His way, with Him leading and by silently listening to the desires or tugs at your heart. Because He won’t steer you wrong.

So when you feel a desire on your heart, that soft whisper to do something different or to seek something new, pray on it mamas. Sit with it for awhile and ask Him to show you why this may be right for you and to prepare your heart for it. To prepare your heart to embrace all that is scary and BIG so you can seek and live out His plan for you and your children. To live for not what the world expects from your family, but what He expects.

Disconnect from the world and connect with Him, and He will line up your desires with His will. I’m right there with you as we navigate this scary and beautiful journey of motherhood together, and we use Him and His word to light our way.