The Marked Life Blog

How many children do you have? I have 3 children.

How old are your child(ren) OR how long have you been a mom? 9, 4, and 14 months

Are you a mom of girls, boys, or both? 3 sparkly little girls!

How does having this treasure of Christ influence and transform your approach and ability to mother?

Oh…Having the Treasure of Yeshua means so much.

It has (and still is) shifting my understanding of my role and position in all my relationships – not just motherhood.

When I feel the weight of raising my children, naturally this can be heavy, overwhelming, and just plain HUGE.

Then I remember who lives in me. I remember His power and His promise. I remember that it is Him raising His children and I am reminded to continue walking in obedience, consistency, and staying out of the way.

I’m humbled that in this faith, such a Sovereign and immensely powerful and wise God would choose to dwell in me – a mere mortal. I’m training myself to be easy. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

This arrangement – my husband and I coming together in union and the carefully crafted makeup and selection of the very children that were birthed – is God-ordained and arranged in the courts of Heaven. There is purpose here and a task to be completed…not to pat ourselves on the back if our children turn out “good” or “successful” and not if they miss the mark all their lives. This is God’s BIG story – that dwells in little me.

How glorious!

This treasure powers me supernaturally to endure and persevere. It empowers me to love when it’s hard. It transforms my thinking, my behavior, and my speech which impacts my children, which impacts their children and their children. It is this treasure that gives us favor for a thousand generations. It’s sustainable. It’s fire-proof.

The Treasure of Christ in me molds me into His image in many ways, namely, the intense burning and desire to “die for” and “intercede for” my children. Being a mother means a lot of sacrifice for the well-being of your kids. In essence we die in many ways. As for interceding, because of my love and concern for them, I am constantly crying out on my knees for them. I want each of them to serve the Lord and I groan in prayer that none of my daughters would live an eternity separated from Jesus.

How does taking up your cross and following Jesus shape you as a Mother?

Answering this is first understanding what it means to take up one’s cross and follow Him.

The cross was a significant weight to bear. That weight meant pain and toiling and struggle. That is to understand that this journey won’t be easy, but I must go it anyway. This journey of Motherhood, while often depicted as flowery and sweet, can also be dreary, sour, uncertain, exhausting, disappointing and all the other things (insert your own “thing” here).

Following Jesus means that even with all the things, I am not wandering aimlessly and in vain. I know, without question, that my muscles are being strengthened and my will is being lengthened as I follow behind Him. 

He is truly my Shepherd. I don’t know where I am going. I have to accept that. I don’t know how to do it. Gotta accept that. I have to pick up my task…this responsibility of rearing 3 little souls….and follow Jesus so that I may do it fully and well. And by the way, the only way that we can do this “well” is through abiding with the Lord and obeying. 

Taking up my cross reminds me that I am a Steward, not a Governor. It reminds me that He is in control, and it keeps me in a wanting and needing posture before him on behalf of my children.

Not my will; His.

Not my way; His.

Not my story; His.

What circumstances tend to pressurize us in Motherhood?

It has somehow become an ideal to show that you can (and somehow must) Mother and be fully invested in pursuits outside the home. And, if somehow you aren’t doing this, you’re falling short or not applause-worthy.

Hannah smith

Ah, pressure.

Being in continuous demand.

The mental pressure of desiring and hoping that you’re doing it right and not damaging your children.

Balancing needs; the needs of your marriage, your faith, yourself, your children, your work, your other relationships, etc.

Stewarding the various aspects of life that impact your children (their schooling, their friends, finances, where you live, their nutritional needs, what they watch, what they listen to, their relationships with others).

The pressure to be all (being fit, Chef, Counselor, Referee, etc.)

These are all pressures I’ve experienced.

There is, however, another pressure that has become a common narrative too these days, and that is the pressure of being significant. Specifically, there is this pressure to Mother AND build a separate empire.

It has somehow become an ideal to show that you can (and somehow must) Mother and be fully invested in pursuits outside the home. And, if somehow you aren’t doing this, you’re falling short or not applause-worthy.

It subtly robs the beauty of simply being a Mother, and nothing else. One singer specified it as being, “strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business…”. That has become the goal and standard for some; “snapping back” right after birth to look as though your body didn’t go through the pregnancy process, back to work, back to meetings, back to school, back to ripping and running – all to uphold a societally (and mentally) imposed standard of significance.

Needless to say, the simple call to carry, birth, and raise life tis’ enough! 

Should I choose to leave my new jelly belly unattended (which I have after baby #3) tis’ enough.

Should I choose to step away from commitments to heal, adjust, and simply be, tis’ enough.

The Treasure of Christ within you tis’ enough and HE is worthy of all applause! 

Share about a time that God helped you to release control

I’m a serious and reserved person by nature; highly introspective and deep thinking. I often think about how to best rear my girls and point them in a righteous path for their lives. I have to admit, this has made me rigid at times.

In some recent prayer and time with the Lord, I was listening to a commentary on 1 Corinthians 3, and the Commentator was talking in general about new converts and praying for the lost. In this, he emphasized that our work isn’t the work of the Holy Spirit. We simply do our part to plant the seeds and let the Holy Spirit do the watering.

I’ve heard this before, but the beauty of revelation in the word of God is that it never hits you the same way twice. I instantly thought about my children. I thought about some of the not so righteous influences in their lives that I have little control over – signs they may see in a store, being at the park and playing with children who may use foul language, seeing lewd or vulgar commercials in passing, etc. All these things can make you feel tense – as though you could bottle up your kids and shelter them or send them to Bible study boot camp permanently. Of course, you can’t. I also have felt anxious before, desiring more Godly influences around my daughters to “ensure” they stay on the straight and narrow.

In that moment of listening to the commentary, I felt such a release, “Hannah, just plant the seeds”. I can’t determine the paths my daughters will take, only the Lord knows. I can however fill them to the brim with His Word and the example a holy lifestyle – especially in this season of homeschooling (which I am tremendously grateful for). I can fall into deeper intimacy with God and live out my faith in front of my gals, and invite them to sweet communion with the Lord. And that is all I can do…and all I’m required to do. 

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Since our inception in 2020, For the Moms has received over 2500 views in over almost 30 countries!

I am all the more grateful for the women who have chosen to join me on this journey of transparency. I can’t thank you enough.

For the Moms is an annual written blog series which aims to ignite and connect Godly Women in various stages of Motherhood toward the revelation of their Divinely given assignment and their impact as the gatekeepers of the home. 

The purpose and mission is to elevate Christ and conceptualize Godly character in Motherhood – and to reach down and pull up those Mothers who are just starting, who are understandably worn, or who have somehow lost their way. 

Further, For the Moms is a movement that is calling to attention the warriors within us for the times in which we live. We will aim to unravel the mistakes and cycles of generations past. We will wage war for our families. And, we will diligently seek the Lord’s face concerning His will for our children, and who we are becoming through our Motherhood. 

My prayer is that the women who lay eyes on the For the Moms Series, will be encouraged, emboldened, and all the more hopeful.

For the Moms,

Hannah