Guest Post: Will They See Jesus In Me

As I mentioned last month, I am hosting a guest writer once a month through the summer here at Gindi’s.  God connected me to Holley Gerth’s God-sized Dream Team in 2013.  Through this group, I have met fellow dreaming writers, several of whom I now consider friends.  Last month, you met Kristin and heard her adoption story.  Today I introduce you to Alecia who became a parent young but has soaked up a lot of wisdom in the years since and shares some here: 

When I became a parent at the age of 21, I had no idea what I was doing.  For the first couple of years everything was trial and error, fall and get back up again.  But I’ve always strived in my parenting to remember that they are kids and will make mistakes.  I also want them to personally know  Jesus.  I had spent my entire life going to church on Sundays, and believing He existed, but not knowing Him personally.  For my kids, I want it to be different.

The more I grow and evolve in my faith, the more I realize that I am the only Jesus example my kids will see for a long time.  Each time I show compassion when they make a mistake, or speak calmly instead of yelling, or show love when I want to strangle their little necks, they will see Jesus the most.  I desperately want to be a mom that they can count on when they are confused and troubled with life – a mom that thinks and prays before reacting or making decisions.

A great example of a grace moment is summer vacation. (Which is right around the corner.) The days run together, the calendar and routine is thrown out the window, and the first question out of each of their mouths when they wake up each morning is “What are we doing today, Mom?” and it never ends! These are the days I get to stretch my grace muscle the most.  They wake up fighting and go to bed fighting and in between want to be entertained.  I can either spend my days yelling and playing referee or make a decision to make the most of each day regardless of what we end up doing or what their attitudes happen to be.  When I remember that I set the tone, (and that I’m the boss) the day is much more enjoyable and we end up making fun memories and the urge to want to sell them on eBay is resisted another day. (I’m kidding, mostly.)  

On my own, I can be ugly and prideful and impatient and mean.  But because my life has been changed from the inside out, I can show the two most important people in my life faith, peace, love, kindness, self-control, joy, and hope; all the things that I am not on my own.  There are days the old me rears her ugly head, but then I catch a gentle whisper in my soul that tells me “not this way, remember what I have taught you.”  I hope when they open their Bibles and read the accounts of Jesus and how he lived and loved, that they will think of the way their Mama, lived and loved them and others.  That while she may not be perfect, she did her best to show grace when it was least deserved.

I spend many days in walking conversations with God, because I so desperately need His wisdom and discernment in raising my children.  So, the most important question I can ask myself each day is, “Do they see Jesus in me right now?”  If the answers is no, then I know what I should do.  With Him I am the mom I want to be, can be, and should be.

Alecia blogs over at There’s Something Different at www.aleciasimersky.com. She is a Southerner by birth (and grace) and gypsy by marriage (she’s moved 7 times in the last 12 years).  She writes to encourage Christians to live differently because she knows that once you’ve been changed by Christ you are different.  She claims “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” Phil 4:13, daily. You can connect with her on Twitter @AleciaSimersky and  http://www.facebook.com/ Theresomethingdifferent