Mommy's Hope - Being a Single Mom 2

When life becomes hard and difficult and we don’t know what to do, it is then that we are forced to look to the Lord for hope and encouragement. Although the trials are tiresome and difficult, there is a blessing in them. Over time we will learn to call them good as we came to know the Lord experientially. Single Mom, He is your only hope. With Him and through Him you will be enabled to find strength for your particular struggles. Yes, you will.

How, may be your question? And, it is a good one!

The Lord calls us to live in community, hopefully you are part of a church where you can speak openly and in confidence with your pastor or a counselor. They should be able to connect you with other single parents, or families with whom you can form friendships with. The purpose of this is to be of help to one another – bearing one another’s burdens, helping each other.

Furthermore a pastor or counselor can help you address concerns before they become problems. Knowledge gives wisdom, and knowing how to respond in a godly way, to be prepared, will lessen the stress you may feel in your role as a single parent. Yes, this is the responsibility of the church. The church is to equip you for life and for godliness. They are to prepare you and come alongside you so that you can live for the Lord – that your testimony may shine brightly for Christ. This does not mean your life will become problem free, it does mean that you will have wisdom to walk through the trials in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Even when your child is having a temper tantrum, or money has run out and the pantry is bare.

God has given instructions for the family, on how we are to interact with children, what discipline looks like and the effect it will have on the children He has entrusted to you, and to the church. You may be a single parent, but God has not left you alone. He has not abandoned you. He will provide the strength you need to endure.

Your first focus as a single parent is that you are saved. You are His. You can never be alone. It is an impossibility. Your feelings are not fact. They are emotions, and emotions do not determine reality. The Word of God determines reality.

To implement a plan of change for your family, include your children in your spiritual growth plan. Make it fun. Memorize Scripture with them – even if it is only a verse or two a week. Over a year – it will add up!

If you attend a church which has a verse of the week, or your pastor is teaching through a book of the Bible, pick a verse from his lesson and memorize it with your children. Discuss its meaning and what the Lord is teaching you through it. Pray with your children. If you do not have a church family, how about starting with John 3:16-18. Focus on a verse a day, and then reward your children at the end of the week when they can recite all three verses.

• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

• For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17).

• Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18).

#singlemom #hope