Mother Hen

I have always loved kids. My whole life. I would always have somebody’s child on my hip as soon as I was big enough to carry one. My grandma always said I would end up with my own child on my hip as much as I had other people’s. It’s ingrained in us from birth to love, nurture and mother everyone we can. It’s a girl thing.

Being a mother is taught to us before we even speak! I don’t know any little girl who hasn’t owned at least one baby doll. I see my little friends as young as two carrying them around, some baby dolls bald and with no clothes, some dressed like princesses. There’s something in us from the beginning that longs to nurture and give love like only we can.

Unfortunately, for some of us, that desire has been thwarted or killed. Maybe when we were young. Maybe when we found out that our mothers weren’t all we thought they would be. Maybe when we offered our motherhood or our protection and it was rejected. Maybe when we were bombarded prematurely with too many motherly duties.

Maybe when we had our first abortion. Or second. Or third.

Somewhere along the way we lost it. Our desire to mother was wounded in battle.

Out of shame, out of angst or out of revenge, we have buried what is uniquely ours under years of rejection and pain.

So no wonder why when God calls us to disciple other women we shrink back. In light of this it makes total sense that it seemingly goes completely against our nature to have women over to our house for coffee and the Word. No wonder we can’t spend a good hour in a home full of women. No wonder it seems like the cat has our tongue when we are led to share wisdom with younger women. And it’s beginning to make sense that when all a young woman needs to do is cry on your shoulder you’d rather hide in a corner in the fetal position. (I think that last one was mostly me.)

Our motherhood has been wounded. The very thing that only we can do, the enemy has stolen from us and turned it into something marred and down right scary!

Not all of us are mothers, but we are all daughters, and we are all called to bear spiritual children. Some of us are called to bear spiritual children long before we bear natural children, but we are halted. We are frozen in fear at even the thought. Maybe you have natural children and you feel as if you’ve failed at that. Maybe you have been wounded by women and can’t stand to be in a room with more than three of them. Maybe the last time you led a group of women it went terribly wrong.

But whatever the case, God desires to heal you and to empower you to rise up as the spiritual mother that you are.

When Peter is talking to women about being modest he says something very interesting. He ends the passage that offends a lot of women with, “like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and DO NOT GIVE WAY TO FEAR.”

Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to protect God’s sheep. Don’t be afraid to jump into Mom Mode and pull your daughter’s out of the line of fire. PROTECT.

protect |prəˈtekt|

verb [ trans. ]

keep safe from harm or injury : he tried to protect Kelly from the attack

Don’t be afraid to protect even the women in your influence that intimidates you. Stick out your neck on someone else’s behalf for once. Awaken the fierce risk of protecting the ones you love no matter the cost. Sounds like someone we know. Maybe Jesus? Think about it.

Don’t be afraid to LOVE. Whew. I can’t elaborate on this enough! Why are you so fearful? Why are you so scared to offer your love and your heart to other women? Maybe because you did once and you were viciously betrayed. We women can be vicious, vindictive and down right MEAN. But, beloved, it’s time.

It’s time to forgive. It’s time to let go. Because LOVE holds no record of wrongs. You have to STOP writing off every woman you meet because of hurts from the past. It is crippling you. You think you are just protecting yourself. You think you are free because you “guard your heart” from being hurt, but no ma’am. You are not free. You are walking in chains. You will never be who God has called you to be as long as you reject every female you meet thinking you rejected them before they rejected you.

LIG. LET IT GO.

You’re in the BODY of Christ now! Not to say you will never get hurt again. But to say it is different. Because now you have Jesus who can heal you and take the punches. He died for their sins too. Jesus already died for that offense, for that backstabbing, for that shame. How can you fulfill the scriptures by discipling women if you can’t stand to be around them?! So what?! What are you going to do?! Disciple men?! HAH. Right. Great plan…NOT.

Don’t give way to fear. Love them. Love like Jesus does everyday. And remember 1 Corinthians 13. Step by step instructions on how to love with actions.

A leader told me this once. “The secret to loving and never getting hurt is to love with no expectations of getting it returned.”

Don’t love to be loved. Love because He first loved us.

And lastly, don’t be afraid to NURTURE. This one is hard for me. I’m extremely awkward in nurturing situations. I’m getting better, by God’s grace, but by no means am I THERE. If a girl starts crying, I’m out. Peace. I don’t know what to do so I want to hide.

But God says stop that. Offer yourself in tender care, loving with great mercy and gentleness. Let Jesus teach you to be soft, nurturing and to act with loving-kindness. He made of all those things, He IS all of those things. So, let’s learn together. Let’s learn how to give the truth in LOVE and with GENTLENESS.

nurture |ˈnər ch ər|

verb [ trans. ]

care for and encourage the growth or development of : figurative my father nurtured my love of art.

• cherish (a hope, belief, or ambition) : for a long time she had nurtured the dream of buying a shop

Care for the women in your life. Encourage their growth in Christ and do what you can to develop them in Christ Jesus. Look at Paul’s letters. See how he wrote to Timothy, his disciple. Pray the same things over the women you are called to pour into. INVEST in them. Invest your time, your money, your creativity, and your book collection, your WISDOM. Whatever you have, don’t be afraid to give. It goes a long way with someone who has never experienced Christ’s love.

Sit with Jesus. Ask Him to reveal to you the women He has appointed for you to pour into and lead in the ways of Him. Ask Him to reveal to you your hurts, aches and pains and invite Him there to heal your wounds. He’s show up. He WILL come for you.

And then, DO IT!!! Be the powerhouse MOTHER God has called you to be! Be the mother hen and protect, love and nurture your babies into beautiful women who will do the same.

Just so you know, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Thanks for reading my blog. God is totally faithful. And I pray that the wisdom He has given me will help somebody somewhere!

If you have any needs or prayer requests here is my email: ventura.ivory@gmail.com