Stories

This week we’re excited to welcome a guest writer to the Difference Maker Devotional: Kori Trierweiler, Mission India’s Prayer Mobilizer! We hope you’re encouraged today as she shares some of her own experience with motherhood.

I have a confession to make when it comes to Mother’s Day. When my four kids were little, all I wanted on Mother’s Day was to get a break from my kids. When my husband would ask me what I wanted for Mother’s Day, all I could think of was – let’s get a babysitter!!

Maybe you can relate. Like moms everywhere, I carry desires, concerns, and fears for each of my children. It can be exhausting! However, this love of a mother is universal and God-given. It gives us insight into God’s heart for His children – which is us! When we feel worn out as moms, what if the answer is to consider God’s heart for our children?

Let me tell you about Kaheela, another mother of four who lives in a poor village in India. She and her husband are daily wage laborers who are required to make 600 bricks a month for their employer. The work is hard, so all four of Kaheela’s young children join them in the work.

Because of the long, hard workdays and limited food, her kids would often get sick, affecting their family and their income. Kaheela would pray to the deities for health and healing for her children but it never seemed to work. Her life was difficult, overwhelming, and painful watching her children constantly deal with sickness, hunger, and fatigue.

One day a Church Planter named Razi introduced her to Jesus, saying that He is a God who hears our prayers and heals the sick. Kaheela was discouraged and skeptical, but Razi told her to wait and see because he was going to pray to Jesus for her family and her children.

Not too long after, Kaheela noticed her children stayed healthy and became stronger. Plus, her family was able to meet the demands of their employer. This was the hope, encouragement, and faith that she needed most. She stopped praying to her former gods who never seemed to listen and transferred her prayers to Jesus alone.

Kaheela, like so many mothers, is learning to trust Jesus with the hopes and the concerns of her family and children.

As mothers, we can definitely identify with Kaheela in the fact that we, too, carry many burdens for our children. It is part of what makes us good moms! But, whether our kids are young or old, sometimes we need a break from all the worries and anxieties that can weigh us down. I encourage you to do what this courageous Indian woman did and turn to Jesus and trust God with your kids.

Remember, we’re not so much pleading with God to help us parent them; we’re joining Him in His work in His/our children’s lives.

PRAY:

• Pray for Kaheela and all the women of India that she represents. Ask God to strengthen her faith in Jesus and pray a prayer of blessing over her children this day.
• If you have kids who are older, identify one fear or concern you have for each of your children. “Take a break” by giving those concerns over to Jesus. Pause now to lift them up in prayer.

TAKE ACTION:

• If you are a mom of little kids, find a babysitter! Give yourself permission to take a little break from your kids with no “mommy guilt”! Trust God to take good care of them while you are away.
• If you’re not currently raising children, challenge yourself to bless a mom you know. Ask God to bless her and her children, ask her what help you can provide, or offer her words of encouragement.