Capable

Capable: Endued with power competent to the object; qualified for; susceptible of.

(Definition courtesy of Webster's 1828 Dictionary).

This word has been knocking around in my head lately. It began as I was driving home from the retreat, feeling humbled by the gift of children the Lord has blessed Craig and I with and feeling inadequate to 'shepherd' them in the shadow of the Good Shepherd. I honestly felt the Lord speak to this thick-headed heart of mine. You know, the kind of speaking that reduces you to tears in nothing flat! I often feel undeserving of the children the Lord has given me, as if they were a privilege I needed to earn first by attaining some sort of high-level perfection. Like I needed to 'try out' for motherhood, to see if I could make the team, before I was handed my MOM badge. It is incomprehensible to me that the Lord chose to give me children, on purpose, knowing all too well my weaknesses and failures, my temptations and incapacities. But that afternoon, with a mind swirling like the golden leaves on the highway, God reminded me that first and foremost, His grace is sufficient. But secondly, He is a God of potential! When He chose to give me the joy and responsibility of children, He didn't do it because of who I was at the time, but of who He knew I was capable of being. He created me, He knows me inside and out; He knows, far better than I do, my potential and what I am capable of doing. The Bible is full of stories of people who felt they were not able to do what God had called them to do and yet God, in His divine wisdom, had created them to be CAPABLE to do what He was asking them to do. They were not to do a self-evaluation and then determine whether or not they could or would obey. No, no, no!!! Do we not do this as mothers all too often? They, instead, were to trust that their Creator had made them capable to do anything and everything He put before them. And so it is with me, and with you! We, as mothers, have nothing in ourselves to boast of, nothing to put confidence in. Were we to attend a try-out for mothering, none of us would make the team. However, the God who fashioned me in my dear mamma's womb crafted me with the capabilities to mother a certain builder and analyzer, a certain base-jumper and Energizer-bunny, a certain princess and Anne of Green Gables rolled all into one, and a certain spit-fire, show-stopping, sweetest-Pete Goose. If I were to self-evaluate my ability (as Moses did!), I'd be running the other way as fast as possible. But there is no need for self-evaluation. I am capable because God is God; I am capable to mother these precious children and to shepherd the Fabulous Four.

Mothers, are you shying away from what the Lord is challenging you to do in the realm of mothering? Are you feeling ill-equipped and insecure in your abilities? Are you settling for mediocrity in your parenting because you feel incapacitated and overwhelmed? If so, you are believing a lie of Satan. Its all a lie! The Lord who brought your children into your life (via your womb or the womb of 'another-mother') has fully equipped you and made you capable. Go forth with confidence, not in yourself, but in the God who made you, Who's grace is sufficient, and knows who you are and who you will be. Rejoice in His gifts to you: the gift of children and the promise that He who started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. You are CAPABLE!!!!