Alarming Alliteration

Alarming Alliteration to Amplify How Mothers Set the Climate of the Home

  A mentor mom once conveyed to me, when I was a mother of two under the age of 2, an essential truth: the mom governs the ambiance of the home. Thoughtfully, I wondered how this would play out. Today, a mother of a 4 and 5 year old, I better understand the importance of following Jesus’ teaching as a disciple and disciple maker.   The Bible speaks of looking in a mirror – our lives reflect what we do.  

James 2:22- … Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at this face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

  I’m prompted to use alarming alliteration to amplify how my choices as a Mother reflect the legacy I leave – Jesus sometimes used alarming metaphors to make His point (see Matthew 5:30 for example).   I think about whether I am,

• preparing a passageway for Pilgrims to travel toward perpetual peace or,
• am I, digging a dungeon for the destitute and dying.

  I question if my home,

• is a fortress friendly toward fighters of freedom or,
• is it a cavernous castle for captives forever coping.

  I inquire if my children,

• experience secure love in a neat, nestled nest like the birds of the air or,
• do they encounter neglect among a gathering of needless things in a hideaway for hoarders.

  Dr .Tim Kimmel speaks of the 3 needs of every child: a strong hope, a significant purpose and a secure love.   Circumstances unfold throughout the day. How I respond to them establishes the atmospheric pressure in the home.   As simply as changing the setting on the thermostat of the Heating and Air Conditioning control panel, we mothers, can change the atmosphere to let in the light of Christ to bring hope where there is hopelessness, purpose where there is uncertainty and grace to provide a safe place to grow as a follower of Jesus.