Sometimes it feels like you are going it alone. Life can be hard. Mothering children is definitely hard. The authors of the devotions in this booklet know hard and they know Jesus. They have experienced the loneliness, the exhaustion and the fear about what the future will hold. They have felt isolated as they raised their children.
They wrote these words and picked out Scripture passages to help keep your eyes fixed on Jesus in the midst of the challenges of raising children. These authors are your Cloud of Witnesses (Heb. 12:1–2). You have others in your Cloud of Witnesses; go to church and meet them there.
The words in this booklet are written for you, anticipating the circumstances and emotions you might experience day in and day out. There are other very important words written for you. God gives you the Holy Scriptures, the very Word of God — the Bible — so that you can know His Son. We pray that reading these devotions increases your eagerness to be among the Church, receiving His Means of Grace, the Word of God and the Sacraments.
The article provides steps to help control the influence of the media in our homes.
Birth Plans
As America’s birth rate wanes, our societal fixation on the gestational trimesters, infant milestones and childhood “firsts” increases exponentially.
A New Look at Family Devotions
Do you struggle over family devotions? Maybe some new ideas will help. The goal is to have fun while learning about and sharing God’s love. After all, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones” (Prov. 15:30).
A Mother’s Prayer
Monica never quit praying for her son. God’s answer overwhelmed her.
All Those Glowing Rectangles
Screens make it hard for us to concentrate on real people and experiences, they disrupt our natural rhythms of rest, and they can be disruptive in other ways. Technology is a blessing when used carefully.
Adoption Advocacy in the LCMS
In 1996, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations addressed adoption in the context of practices such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. While the gift of procreation is a profound and beautiful testimony to the blessedness of marriage and reveals one of marriage’s most fundamental purposes, marital goodness is not limited by procreation. Where procreation is not possible, many couples choose to adopt a child into their family and, regardless of intention, also reflect the divine love that leads God to adopt us as His own (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5).
Embracing Adoption
God builds families and gives the blessing of children through birth and also through adoption. When we embrace the opportunity of adoption, we follow in the heart of God. The church, as the family of God, can support adoptive families and become extensions of God’s mercy.
A Letter to My Birthmother
“I am writing this letter to thank and encourage all the birthmothers who may read it. … You made the right ...
In Vitro Fertilization: Moral or Immoral?
Some moral issues involved with in vitro fertilization are the dilemma of leftover embryos, the loss of embryos that do not implant, the unmarried woman seeking pregnancy, the use of donor sperm or egg and, perhaps most importantly, the increasing separation of the biological from the relational inherent in reproductive technologies.
Be Fruitful and Multiply by Lucas Woodford
God’s first command to humanity is, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). It’s a command not only to reproduce children but to reproduce families.
A Review of Reproductive Technologies
Because reproductive ethics is a little known quantity for the average person the following is offered as a simple guide for discussion and consideration in personal decision making. Topics include assisting procreation, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood.
Hannahs in the Pew
She was overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. Her husband loved her, but still she felt cursed by God. Indeed, she felt that ancient curse spoken over the first woman: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children” (Gen. 3:16). Who is this woman? These words describe Hannah, but many other Hannahs sit in the pews of our churches — empty, sad, and bearing with bitterness the curse in their bodies.
