THE GOSPEL AFFECTS EVERYTHING!

The proclamation from the elders of Oakwood South for the last several months has been “The Gospel affects everything!”  It has been drilled into our small congregation and has even been shared with anyone who will listen for that matter.  This statement began to become more alive to me as I contemplated each of my daily decisions.  Then, when I was asked to share how the Gospel affected my life as a mother, my mind began to re-journey thru the joys, tears, and decisions over my lifetime. I was able to pinpoint the many many ways that the Gospel really has affected everything.

Including my role as mother.

My journey thru life was first most profoundly pointed in the right direction by two women who already lived the importance of the Gospel every day.  The first was my very own mother who, by giving up her wants, desires, and sometimes even her needs, portrayed Christ to me in a way that set the greatest example for me of what a Godly mother should not only ‘look like’ but truly be.  After I had become a young mother myself, God saw fit to provide me another Godly woman to journey with me.  She took time to instill many Godly principles in my life and daily lived out Titus 2 in my life.  Even though we didn’t call it "discipling" back then, that is what she was doing.  We just locked arms together and walked toward Christ. And for that, I will forever be grateful.
 
As I have sought and sorted thru many years of memories and Ebenezer moments as a mother…to find what can only be called the “highlights” (since they are far too numerous to pen), I would be remiss to not start at the beginning point of motherhood for me.  After 9 months of pregnancy and the excitement of holding the proverbial bundle of joy, my arms were left empty.  It was my first of much heartache as a mother, but one that left an emptiness that only the gospel could fill. Fill with HOPE!  Hope for the future that could only be found in Christ.

The Lord restored unto me the years the locust had eaten by allowing my 2^nd 9 months of pregnancy and excitement to result in a bouncing, and do I mean bouncing, baby boy.  I was still a very young mother and life was hard for us, but looking thru photos of me with my son during those years…you wouldn’t know it.  He didn’t know it.  The Gospel played out in my life is why!  The suffering I was experiencing was only temporary.  According to 2 Corinthians it was “producing for me an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison!”  That gave me all the more reason to praise the LORD! Can we stand up and shout!  Unconditional love for my son became my focus…my joy.  It stirred in me an awe to marvel even more that the God who created the universe had chosen me to lavish his vast love upon.  And even better?  That He had chosen me to be His…

Discipline was a necessary part of our daily life, as it should be.  The biggest challenge was figuring out the balance.  But guess what?  Once again, the Gospel was the answer.  Knowing that the Lord disciplines the ones He loves and that it ultimately produces righteousness…I pressed on.  Sure…I made many mistakes as a mom.  Who doesn’t?  But the key was that in as many times as I had to show mercy and grace to my son, he in turn had to show them to me as well.  I was never more thankful than at those times when I had to admit that I was wrong and asked his forgiveness.  Humility.  Grace.  Mercy.  FORGIVENESS! The Gospel.

I remember a specific moment in my journey as a mother when I knew as real as the nose on my face that the prayer that was stirring in my heart needed to be prayed.  I relinquished my control of my son’s life and released him to the Father’s will.  I knew that the Father’s will would more than likely look different than mine and it may very well bring suffering to me and/or to my son.  But the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus’ prayer… “not My will, but Thine.”

Now my son is 34 years old and a father himself. I pray that the legacy that began on the cross, affected my mother and mentor, affected me to affect my son now affects my grandson.  Being a Grammy is wonderfully fun!  But God didn’t stop there.  My mothering is now coming full circle. He has chosen to surround me with young wives and mothers who are on that same glorious journey. One of those young mothers has even been a part of my life for 10 years and has allowed me the opportunity to mentor her according to the Gospel.  She in turn is a Godly mother who has found herself surrounded by young women who need to see the Gospel played out before them in life as well.  What an awesome God who knows how to perfectly weave tapestries of lives together…ultimately for the Gospel’s sake!

Ok Elders!  You were right.  The Gospel really does affect everything and because of that, I am blessed beyond compare.  Let all that I am praise the Lord, and let me not forget all the good things He has done for me!

Tammy Goodin
Church at Oakwood South Member
City of Hope Outreach Supporter