It Is Up To The Moms

I have been spending a lot of time on my knees lately, have you? 

I decided to dedicate a large portion of my time to reverently yet hopefully considering what I, as an ordinary woman, can do to change the world in which we live. 

As I read the Bible, I am vibrantly aware of how God used ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.

God has always strategically selected a man or a woman to usher in peace … hope … wisdom … and courage … at all junctures in human history.

God has historically and faithfully enlisted the services of a common man or a common woman to right a wrong … to stand up for justice … and to reveal His own character in the midst of human suffering. 

I want to be that woman that God uses in the year 2020. 

I want to be His Esther … His Ruth … His Elizabeth … His Sarah … His Deborah … His Mary.

I have offered my life for His service even if it is uncomfortable … painful … or just plain difficult. 

And would you like to know something absolutely amazing?!

There is just something inside of me that tells me that particular prayer of surrender is not silly nor does it go unheeded by the heart of heaven. 

As I was praying about the division between the races, my heart was laid bare on the throne room of the Father.

Some of my dearest friends have different color skin than I but we have always walked together in peaceful harmony.

We like each other and we love each other. They love me in spite of my weaknesses and they also help me to understand their perspective. It’s what any friendship should be about! 

And then … when I was lingering in the presence of the Lord still broken by the immensity of the racial divide …I felt a sweet nudging by the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever felt that?

Have you ever felt the unction of the Holy Spirit? Let me assure you that there is absolutely nothing like it … nothing at all.

In that sacred moment, while on my knees, with my hands in the air, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I heard the voice of the Lord in the deepest part of me.

Would you like to know what He whispered to me as I was undone in His presence? 

I heard the Lord say to me, “It is up to the moms.” 

It is up to the moms.

No one loves as fiercely as a mother … no one believes more strongly than does a mother … and no one is able to shape a child’s heart like a mother is able to do.

If the majority of moms in America would adopt the removal of racism from our culture as their clarion cause we would be just one generation away from massive and lasting change.

Just one generation!! 

Mom … you need to realize that teaching your children to love people regardless of the tone of one’s skin is more important than soccer games … than trips to Disney World … and then designer clothes. 

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to invite people of different races, different ethnicities and different cultures into your home for dinner and for friendship.

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to strike up conversations in public with those who look different than you do. You need to speak to these wonderful people with respect and with love. 

It is up to the moms.

Mom … in your home, you need to talk about people of different races and different ethnicities in a kind and caring manner.

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to point out the strengths and the achievements of those who have been born on different continents or whose skin pigment is deeper than your own.

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to make sure that in your home the television shows that you watch and the movies that you view are ones that honor different races not degrade them.

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to read aloud the biographies of men and woman who have contributed greatly to society. When you choose these biographies, make sure that you are including the stories of people whose skin tone is gloriously different than your own. 

It is up to the moms. 

Mom … you need to pray with your children for those who are marginalized and who have been historically mistreated. 

It is up to the moms.

Mom … you need to engage your children in activities where all colors and races are invited warmly and welcomed enthusiastically.

It is up to the moms.

Who knows, my friends? Who knows if the mothers of this great nation just might incite a movement that might never be stopped?!

It has always been up to the moms!

“When God wants an important thing done in this world or a wrong righted, He goes about it in a very singular way. He doesn’t release thunderbolts or stir up earthquakes. God simply has a tiny baby born, perhaps of a very humble home, perhaps of a very humble mother. And God puts an idea or purpose into the mother’s heart. And she puts it in the baby’s mind, and then—God waits. The great events of this world are not earthquakes and thunderbolts. The great forces in the world are babies.” – E. T. Sullivan 

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!