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How Faithful Mothers Impact Eternity · Equipped for Impact

0:08
Nate: Welcome to Equipped for Impact, the podcast designed to assist Christian parents, leaders and educators to raise up the next generation, to stand firm in their faith and influence their world.
0:20
Nate: For Christ, we're your hosts.
0:22
Nate: I'm Nate and I'm Lewis, so let's get started.
0:26
Nate: This week, as this podcast comes out.
0:29
Nate: We are just a few days away from Mother's Day, so happy Mother's Day to all our mothers listening out there.
0:36
Nate: You all are wonderful people and we wanted to give you a special episode just for mothers in honor of Mother's Day.
0:45
Nate: We're taking time to reflect on the unique and powerful role God has given to mothers in shaping the hearts, minds and lives of their children.
0:55
Nate: So first of all, I guess we need to address the elephant in the room Lewis, neither of us are moms.
1:01
Nate: We are not moms.
1:01
Nate: No, we are not moms, and we understand that.
1:04
Nate: We had hoped to have a mother on here that we could interview.
1:07
Nate: We'll have to get a mom on at some point, I think, to give you guys a little bit different perspective.
1:14
Nate: But we're going to do our best to give you the special honor you deserve from our perspective as dads and husbands here.
1:23
Nate: So if you're a mom, this is the episode for you and if not, it's still for you, because all of us have a role to play in equipping, encouraging and honoring the mothers in our lives and churches.
1:35
Nate: So, lewis, where do we start when we start talking about Moms and Mother's Day?
1:40
Luis: Well, when we talk about motherhood, we need to know that it's not an invention of the culture.
1:46
Luis: Right Like, moms are a God-ordained calling.
1:50
Luis: And we see that throughout Scripture, we see that mothers, they're not just caregivers, right?
1:55
Luis: Moms aren't just the ones who— A birthing person, yes, they're just not that right.
2:00
Luis: They're not our, I guess feeders right, you know they're not our the ones who just clean up our boo-boos when we get cuts right.
2:10
Nate: Yeah, do you guys say boo-boo, ouchie?
2:13
Nate: I don't know, it's been a while, I can't remember what we called it.
2:16
Luis: You know so.
2:17
Nate: Applying the Band-Aids.
2:18
Nate: That's right.
2:19
Nate: That is an important role, though.
2:20
Luis: You know.
2:21
Luis: So they're not the ones who just do that, they are disciples, right?
2:25
Luis: And this podcast it's all about assisting parents in discipling their children, so we've talked a lot about that.
2:33
Luis: Proverbs 1.8 says listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
2:40
Luis: And so what this verse here?
2:41
Luis: It assumes something pretty powerful teaching.
2:46
Luis: And so what?
2:46
Luis: This verse here?
2:46
Luis: It assumes something pretty powerful.
2:47
Luis: It's saying here that moms are intentionally teaching their children and that what they're teaching them should not be forgotten.
2:52
Nate: Yeah, yeah, I think that's really important and you know the spiritual formation that mothers can facilitate right in the lives of their children.
3:02
Nate: Just kind of go into a New Testament example.
3:04
Nate: One of my favorite examples there is Timothy.
3:08
Nate: And so Paul writes to Timothy.
3:10
Nate: We've got two letters right, first and second Timothy.
3:12
Nate: And what I love is we miss something that you know can kind of get glazed over when we talk about Timothy and the role his mother played in his life.
3:22
Nate: So actually kind of working backwards in that letter In 2 Timothy 3, we always jump to the classic passage about inspiration.
3:29
Nate: Right, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
3:31
Nate: That's 2 Timothy 3.16.
3:32
Nate: Go up a couple verses from that and it actually says Paul is giving Timothy kind of the encouragement to believe and understand the inspiration of scripture, and where he starts in verse 14.
3:45
Nate: This is what it says.
3:46
Nate: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how.
3:56
Nate: From childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
4:03
Nate: And then he gets into all scriptures breathed out by God.
4:06
Nate: So there he says, one of the reasons you should believe the Bible is because you know who.
4:11
Nate: It is the example of the person who taught you right.
4:13
Nate: And, of course, louis, we know you know it was Timothy's mom.
4:16
Nate: If you go to chapter one, verse five, paul actually says to Timothy here same letter, he says I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and now, I'm sure, dwells in you as well, and so I just love that Like the explanation of.
4:39
Nate: You know, timothy, you're a pastor, you're leading this church, but remember, your mom taught you a lot about the Scripture, so hold on to that.
4:48
Luis: And one thing there is.
4:49
Luis: In a different translation it uses the word I am persuaded, and so when you read that verse, that's huge, like what Paul's saying here.
4:57
Luis: The Apostle Paul, one of the key authors of the New Testament.
5:01
Luis: He's not giving credit to a seminary.
5:03
Luis: He's not giving credit to a seminary.
5:04
Luis: He's not giving credit to a church.
5:05
Luis: He's not giving credit to a youth group or to any of the other apostles for Timothy's early faith.
5:13
Nate: Did you just call him Tim?
5:13
Nate: I did.
5:14
Nate: You and him are tight.
5:15
Nate: We're close.
5:16
Nate: We're close.
5:17
Luis: We had a shout out to Tim on a previous episode too, so look at us getting these callbacks, and so you've got Tim here right and Paul's saying that his faith was formed by his mother and grandmother, and so that's huge.
5:33
Nate: Yeah, yeah, and the role like I teach a class on discipleship to undergraduate students and I go to this to talk about discipleship and it's like, look, discipleship starts in your family, right, discipleship, it can be a pastor, it can be, you know, a youth pastor, it can be a Christian school teacher, but ultimately for Timothy Tim, for our buddy Tim, it started with his mom and grandma, and so, moms and grandmas, you have a big role to play.
6:03
Nate: You have a lot of things that you can do.
6:05
Nate: Right, it's not just a small thing, right, you as a mom.
6:10
Nate: Moms are the first evangelists in their child's lives.
6:14
Nate: Moms are the first Bible teachers their kids ever encounter.
6:18
Nate: It's not a small thing, right, it's a very strategic thing that God ordained to help shape and mold the hearts and minds of of the children.
6:27
Luis: Yeah, and it's really cool how you called moms the first evangelist and first bible teachers, because what we know now about the baby in the womb, like they hear right, and so the baby as it's growing and forming inside of his mother, they are hearing the mom.
6:44
Luis: And so moms, you are even early on while your child is being formed.
6:50
Luis: They're hearing what you say, they are listening to you and the music you listen to, the words you pray out loud the stories you read, like I mean, you can even start as early as the womb.
7:07
Luis: And so, moms, you're that first evangelist, you're that first Bible teacher, and it goes even before they take their first breath outside of the womb.
7:15
Luis: And we know that daily discipleship happens in the home, or it should happen in the home, right.
7:20
Luis: It happens through teaching, it happens through correction, through prayer, and that's the frontline example of spiritual formation.
7:27
Luis: It goes all the way back to Deuteronomy 6, right that we talked about in our very first episode.
7:32
Nate: Yeah, and I love that you brought that up.
7:34
Nate: Like I know that with my children, you know they recognized even my voice as the dad, like when they were still in the womb and I remember like I'd come home I was working at Chick-fil-A, you know and I'd come home and they'd hear my voice and start kicking, you know, and and it was a whole thing.
7:51
Nate: But but still, even though they recognize that, you know, before they were born, uh, it's that connection to mom that's so big, so like I've got daughters and they fall down and hurt themselves when they were little and I would be like a foot away from them and I'd put my hands down to pick them up and they would run right past me and go to mom.
8:11
Nate: You know, it's like that connection.
8:13
Nate: There's something special there in the way God designed it Right, and so I love that and it's a wonderful thing that that should be celebrated.
8:21
Nate: And you just have that wonderful responsibility and opportunity to shape your children.
8:26
Luis: I knew you worked at Chick-fil-A.
8:27
Luis: Yeah, like I know that about you.
8:30
Luis: But every time you say it, like it, just I don't know, like I feel like there's an episode that has to be devoted to your time, my time at Chick-fil-A.
8:36
Nate: Chick-fil-A which did I tell you my job?
8:38
Nate: No, so my job was to actually pray, pray for the food before it went out.
8:41
Luis: Get out of here.
8:42
Luis: No, that's not true.
8:43
Luis: Okay, sorry, I started to believe you, you did, you did.
8:46
Nate: I've gotten a couple people with that one.
8:47
Luis: Because that's the Lord's chicken.
8:49
Luis: It is the Lord's chicken.
8:50
Nate: It is the Lord's chicken and you don't have to pray before you eat it.
8:53
Nate: Chick-fil-a, because it's done been blessed.
8:54
Luis: It's already been blessed.
9:05
Nate: Okay, enough Biblical examples.
9:06
Nate: Right Proverbs Timothy and his mom and grandma.
9:07
Nate: But what about some others from history, lewis, when we think about historical moms who really had a work in their child's life, what kind of comes to mind there?
9:16
Luis: Well, one of the first ones that comes to mind is Susanna Wesley.
9:19
Luis: She had 19 children.
9:21
Luis: That's incredible, that's a lot, that's incredible.
9:23
Luis: But two of her children were John and Charles Wesley.
9:26
Luis: And you think about the impact that those two men made in Christian and church history.
9:31
Luis: It didn't just happen by accident.
9:34
Luis: What Susanna Wesley did, it played into that right.
9:39
Luis: It's amazing that, despite the chaos of raising 19 children in the 1700s, she was committed to intentional discipleship.
9:48
Luis: We know from John that she would carve out one hour a week to talk to each child about spiritual matters.
9:57
Luis: Think about it.
9:57
Luis: Wow, one hour a week.
9:58
Luis: Wow, 19 children.
10:00
Luis: And she taught all her kids to pray and to read scripture.
10:04
Luis: Wow.
10:05
Luis: I'm a huge fan of DL Moody and I had the privilege of reading one of his biographies and then writing my own biography of his.
10:15
Luis: But just the stories that he tells about his mom.
10:17
Luis: His mom was not a believer, but she made sure that the Moody children were in church every Sunday.
10:26
Luis: Wow, it was something that she didn't go, but she made sure that her children did, and so you even think about the impact of a mom like that.
10:34
Luis: And then he tells a story of how she came to know the Lord later on through his ministry, but just the profound impact that moms like Susanna Wesley and Dio Moody's mom had in their life Wow.
10:46
Nate: Yeah, and I know I've read different things about Susanna Wesley and talking about how she prayed for her children and just her prayer life was amazing.
10:54
Nate: Thinking about another mother who had a big impact would be probably a less well-known mother.
11:01
Nate: So you may have our listeners may have heard of Augustine, or Augustine depending on how you want to pronounce it, but his mother, monica was her name and she was one who her testimony, like Augustine, writes in his writings about how she prayed, she wept, she pleaded with God that Augustine would be saved and would accept Christ as his Savior and like when he was young, he was rebellious and skeptical.
11:29
Nate: Christ is his savior.
11:31
Nate: And like when he was young, he was rebellious and skeptical and like he would go out.
11:33
Nate: I think you know, using old school terms, riotous living would be a good description Salacious living.
11:38
Nate: Ooh, that's a good one, too, salacious.
11:40
Nate: Open up your dictionaries, people.
11:42
Nate: But yeah, his early life was rough, right, but through it all, his mother prayed for him and pleaded with God for his soul and eventually we have one of the most prominent early church fathers, right, and all of his writings that are known, and people who maybe have never read oh my goodness, I'm struggling today read his writings.
12:07
Nate: They at least know of him and so you know God answered the prayer and he's a great church father that we know from history and her influence in his life.
12:17
Luis: And most listeners that are listening to our podcast.
12:20
Luis: Like you've been influenced by Augustine, you've been influenced by his writings, you've been influenced by what he said and what he wrote.
12:29
Nate: Even if you don't know, even if you don't know because of his impact on church history.
12:34
Luis: He would later say in his life my mother shed more tears for my spiritual death than most mothers shed for the bodily death of their children.
12:42
Nate: Ooh wow, yep, yeah.
12:44
Nate: That's a legacy of a faithful mom, right?
12:48
Nate: It may not be famous, may not be well-known, but your prayers echo in eternity, right?
12:54
Nate: You think of not just in his life, right, but all of the people that he's influenced down through the ages.
13:00
Luis: That's actually one of the things for me and this is off topic here but just the impact that people have and we're going to meet her in heaven one day have, and like we're going to meet her in heaven one day.
13:11
Luis: Like you know, we're going to be walking with Augustine's mom and she has no idea who you and I are.
13:15
Nate: Like I mean.
13:16
Luis: I mean just, but we're going to be able to say to her like, like, thank you for the influence that you had on your son and his writings and through his writings, you know, you and I have been influenced in our lives and ministry.
13:29
Nate: And we think about equipped for impact right, the name of our podcast.
13:32
Nate: Right, that's the type of impact.
13:34
Nate: You may not see a huge impact right now, but it's really more of the influence that then it's like the ripper ripples Once a pebbles dropped in the water, they go on and on for forever, and so that's that's a great thing to think about.
13:47
Luis: And that brings us to the present right.
13:48
Luis: So now, in 2025, moms, you are pulled in a thousand directions and look, there's the comparison on social media, right, like you've got moms on social media that are posting videos and pictures and you have this pressure to do everything perfect and so you want to become like that mom influencer.
14:11
Luis: And there's often guilt when you feel like you're falling short, when you feel like you don't stack up to that Instagram mom or that.
14:20
Luis: What's that other one?
14:22
Luis: Tiktok?
14:24
Luis: No, not TikTok.
14:25
Luis: Pinterest, pinterest, there you go.
14:27
Nate: I do not have a Pinterest.
14:28
Nate: No, neither do I.
14:29
Luis: Well, actually no, I think I might.
14:31
Luis: I might oh man, I'm gonna have to go see if I can log in.
14:33
Luis: You can find your pinterest but like you may not stack up to that instagram mom, you may not stack up to that pinterest mom I don't think suzanna wesley was it would have instagrammed like I don't think so.
14:45
Nate: And if she had, would it have been like real life, like hashtag IRL, like in real life?
14:51
Nate: Instagram selfies of your 19 kids?
14:52
Nate: Probably no filters, no filters.
14:54
Nate: Write us at podcast at waynechristianorg.
14:58
Nate: What hashtags would Susanna Wesley have used on Instagram if she were on Instagram?
15:05
Nate: Anyway, beside the point, sorry, but here's the truth, guys, you know God isn't asking you to be perfect, right?
15:12
Nate: We know that Instagram filters are not real life, as much as they try and make you think it is right.
15:18
Nate: But God just wants us to be faithful to the calling he's called us to, and whether that's dads, if you're listening, or, especially here before Mother's Day, moms, the calling that you have as a mom.
15:32
Luis: And that means praying over your child when they're sick.
15:34
Luis: Right, like you may not be able to take that selfie, that is that perfect selfie.
15:38
Luis: But that's not what God cares about, right?
15:41
Luis: God sees you when you're praying over your child when they're sick.
15:45
Luis: God sees you when you're reading one Bible verse at breakfast, because that's all you can fit in, right, it's not an hour a week.
15:55
Luis: God sees you when you're apologizing, when you mess up, right, like when you have that moment that you've had enough, right?
16:03
Luis: Like my wife had the privilege of being a stay-at-home mom for a really long time when both of my girls were born, and so it was hard, like it was hard for her being a stay-at-home mom, and so sometimes, moms, you're going to mess up and it means apologizing when you mess up, and all of that is discipleship.
16:24
Luis: All of that is what God sees.
16:27
Nate: Yeah, and it's just an amazing thing to think about, like the time that a mother gets to spend with their child right, and especially those early years, like before they've ever set foot in a church or a school program, before they've even gone to Sunday school, you know.
16:47
Nate: Just thinking about the amount of time a child spends with their mom even before age five.
16:54
Nate: There's different stats that I've found online of the number, the amount of time or where you know.
17:02
Nate: Some have ranged from as much as a thousand to even all the way up closer to four thousand hours a year that you're spending, and I guess that kind of depends whether you have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, especially during those early years or if they were in a daycare.
17:15
Nate: Opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom, especially during those early years or if they were in a daycare.
17:20
Nate: But even just those early times where you're spending the child's spending so much time with their mother right, it's a lot of time that a mom can nurturing and spiritual impact a mom gets to have, it's, it's massive.
17:46
Nate: And so you can't be perfect.
17:48
Nate: You know, you know 100% of the time for 4,000 hours, right, nobody can do that, and so it's about the faithfulness over and over along a long period of time.
17:59
Luis: And mom, if you are a single mom, if you are maybe in a home that is unequally yoked, where maybe the mom's a Christian and dad's not, or maybe even mom is carrying the baton of having to be the spiritual leader in the home.
18:16
Luis: Right now, let me just remind you is that you're not just raising children.
18:22
Luis: You are raising image bearers who will either impact the world for Christ or they're going to be shaped by the world.
18:30
Luis: So your work matters.
18:32
Luis: Heaven sees it even when no one else does.
18:36
Nate: Yeah, that's awesome.
18:37
Nate: So, as we kind of wind down here, before we give our final challenge or encouragement or anything like that, let's kind of shift gears, because this has mainly been geared at moms right, for good reason.
18:48
Nate: But let's talk real quick to dads, right.
18:51
Nate: Let's talk about dads, pastors, church or school leaders who might be listening, because you've got a role to play too right In supporting the mothers who are around you.
19:02
Nate: So so, lewis, how can a dad or a pastor support the moms that they get to come in contact?
19:10
Luis: with.
19:10
Luis: Look, husbands, your wife, she, she's not just a helper in parenting.
19:15
Luis: I used to make the mistakes when I was younger as a dad and Brandy was out of the home for whatever reason, and I would say like I'm babysitting my girls, right.
19:29
Nate: They're your children.
19:29
Nate: They're not babysitting.
19:30
Nate: I'm not babysitting right.
19:32
Luis: But like she's not the helper, like she is a co-laborer in the gospel, and so you have the privilege of coming alongside of her, praying with her speaking life over her, helping lighten her load so that she can lead spiritually in the way that God has called her to lead.
19:52
Luis: And I'm reminded here of a book that I read several years ago and it's a different topic, but like the five love languages, there's there's a version of that for the five love languages for kids, right.
20:06
Luis: And so Brandy and I read that book together and and when we think about our girls like, uh, how can, how can I love my wife in a way that I'm able to love my daughters even more?
20:19
Nate: Yep, yep.
20:20
Nate: And they even think, okay, go back to Susanna Wesley right, carving out an hour a week for 19 kids, right, each?
20:28
Nate: And that obviously the other kids had to be, you know, monitored and taken care of and and influenced during that time, right.
20:36
Nate: And so you know, churches we can do something to to help with that, right.
20:40
Nate: And so you know, churches we can do something to help with that, right.
20:42
Nate: We can provide opportunities, we can provide the time for moms to get together and fellowship together and also to help so that moms can go out and have those times to interact and have relationship with their children.
20:57
Nate: You know, one-on-one Dads, it's the same thing, right, we can lighten that load.
21:02
Nate: We can walk together as co-laborers I like that term you used to help them and create spaces where the moms are able to pour into their children, but also they're able to be encouraged and discipled and valued themselves, right, because you can't pour out of an empty cup, right?
21:20
Nate: So they need to be filling up that cup as well.
21:24
Luis: And so if we want to see strong families and we do right and if we want to see faithful kids, we must pour into the mothers who are laboring day and night to make Christ known in their home known in their home.
21:46
Nate: Dads, pastors, find ways to give moms the opportunity to continue to grow in their relationship with Christ.
21:48
Nate: Yep, yep, that's right.
21:49
Nate: So kind of.
21:49
Nate: As we get down here to the end, lewis, what kind of final encouragement would you give to the moms listening?
21:56
Nate: Coming up on Mother's Day, what's the final encouragement you would give them?
22:01
Luis: Moms, here's what I would tell you Identify one small way that you can lean into spiritual formation this week.
22:08
Luis: And look, I know you're busy.
22:11
Luis: If you're a working mom and you're balancing a full-time job with being a mom, like kudos to you, right.
22:17
Luis: If you're a stay-at-home mom that's balancing being the primary caregiver in your home, kudos to you.
22:23
Luis: And so maybe it's just memorizing a verse with your child this week.
22:27
Luis: Maybe it's starting a bedtime prayer routine.
22:30
Luis: It doesn't have to be big.
22:33
Luis: Don't underestimate the power of little things or small faithfulness.
22:39
Nate: Yep, that's right, and everybody else.
22:40
Nate: This is your reminder, because you're downloading this on Tuesday or Wednesday.
22:44
Nate: Ooh wow Thursday I am really we got to edit that back, but you're hearing this on Thursday.
22:50
Nate: Hopefully you've still got a couple of days.
22:52
Nate: Reach out to your mom, or the mother figure in your life, or another mom that you know.
22:58
Nate: Write a note, send a text, say a prayer.
22:59
Nate: Figure in your life, uh, or another mom that you know.
23:00
Nate: Write a note, send a text, say a prayer, send a card, get some flowers You've got time.
23:05
Nate: Honor them and, most importantly, encourage the moms in your life, because they they need it.
23:11
Nate: Um, you know the things that they have had to do to to help shape the children, right?
23:16
Nate: I'd like to tell people somebody had to teach you how to use a spoon, and it was probably your mom, right?
23:21
Nate: So thank them for the work that they have done in your life, and let's remember this.
23:27
Luis: We need moms who are rooted in the word, who are faithful in the home and who are bold in their calling.
23:33
Luis: God has chosen you to be a mom.
23:37
Nate: That's right.
23:38
Nate: So happy Mother's Day from all of us here at Equipped for Impact.
23:42
Nate: And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a mom, right.
23:46
Nate: Share it with a mom who needs to hear it.
23:48
Nate: They might find this helpful and get some encouragement out of it.
23:51
Nate: Be sure to subscribe so you get it on Thursday.
23:54
Nate: Right, I got the right day this time.
23:55
Nate: You get it on Thursday so you don't miss our next episode.
23:59
Nate: Thank you for joining us today and until next time, keep leading the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence their world for Christ.