Creating Masterpieces
and Scaling Mountains
By Maria Fontaine
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Parents have one of the most important jobs in the world—and you’re worthy of much appreciation, honor, and commendation. Some of you may be tempted to allow other aspects of your busy lives to consume your time and take precedence over your parenting and the time you spend with your little ones. Or if you’re a full-time parent, you may feel that the ministries or work others do is more important than what you are doing. But I want to remind you that your sacrifices and labors of love that you perform for your precious children will be rewarded.1 What you pour into the children is going to bear fruit one day. You’ll be rewarded for every sacrifice, too, and every act of love is being recorded in heaven.
Even if your family members or friends don’t always see the love you give, the time you invest, the heartaches you experience, the challenges you face, the battles you fight, and the persevering spirit you possess to overcome obstacles, Jesus does, and He’s going to reward you accordingly. Every difficulty will pale when compared with the glory and honor He’ll rain upon you for a job well done.
Jesus says:
I have called you as a vessel of humility, a vessel of devotion, and a vessel of dedication—you who give of your life, all that you have, all that you are, and walk as I walked on earth, seeking first the kingdom.
I have bestowed a great honor on you. At times it may not seem like an honor but rather the opposite—a drudgery, a drain, full of heartaches and heartbreaks, thankless, difficult, and demanding. I know it can sometimes be all these things. But these times do not portray the real picture.
In teaching, educating, raising, and caring for your children, your work is like a masterpiece of living art—not something that will be admired on pieces of canvas, or sculptures carved from stone, or inscribed on the walls of a great church. No, those works of art will pass away, but the work of teaching, raising, and caring for your children will live on in their lives. Your children are creations of My hand, made in My image, and you are the one I have chosen to raise them in My nurture and admonition.
Your job ahead is a mountain that may seem high. There are many parallels you can draw from what those who climb mountains have experienced. In short, it’s their lifework. True mountaineers train all their lives for their trek to the top. They plan every step carefully—the amount of equipment they’ll need, the team they will travel with, the time of year they will travel, the food supply, etc. They plot their course. Then they begin their journey. But no matter how well they have planned, unexpected conditions and circumstances that arise can add to the challenge. Sometimes they find themselves in impossible situations and they risk their lives for the climb.
The physical and spiritual challenges you parents face on your journey are comparable to those who scale mountains. But you have a definite advantage, the ultimate advantage, the advantage that ensures that you will reach your goal. You have Me as your guide. You have the power of My promises in My Word for any impossible situation you find yourself in. You are My mountaineer!
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When the day of rewards comes around and … we get our crowns and our stars, we’re going to see some people come up that we never heard of and never saw and never even realized existed to get some of the greatest crowns.—David Brandt Berg
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The world of tomorrow is what the mothers of today make it, according to the way they raise their children.—David Brandt Berg
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Children are a big job, but with a big job comes a big reward, and with big responsibility comes lots of benefits.—David Brandt Berg
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Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.—Psalm 127:3–52
Originally published 2003. Adapted and republished May 2013.
Read by Tina Miles.
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