I am delighted to introduce you to a dear friend I have known for over 22 years. We met in our more youthful days of marriage and raising our children at church. Even though at a distance, we are still connected and pray for one another. Early on she modeled a life of consistent prayer, she is a true prayer warrior. Our memories are full of playdates, Bible study groups, leading women’s ministry, enjoying going out for delicious desserts and the famous blizzard treat she personally delivered to my hospital room after one of my boys were born. Isn’t that exactly what a new mom needs! Amy is a beautiful communicator whether speaking to women’s groups or writing on her blog at Blessed Beyond Belief.

We have a beautiful bond of friendship that continues to be a blessing. I am thankful for her and look forward to the day we can have a coffee in person! Welcome to Sovereign Radiance Amy, thank you for your encouragement today!

 

Amy Gordon is a boy-mom and pastor’s wife, married to Andrew, the Lead Pastor at Compass Community Church in Orangeville, Ontario. Amy is passionate about encouraging and supporting pastors’ wives and other women in ministry roles as they seek to minister and mother well. Amy is a Special Education teacher at a local elementary school, a job which brings her great joy! She and Andrew have four boys becoming men: Johnathan, Matthew, Eric, and Mitch.

 

 

♥♥♥

In the Midst of Becoming

 

 

Motherhood. For me it began with the heart stopping announcement, “It’s a boy!” Three little words that changed my life forever and I could not have been happier. I had always wanted my first child to be a boy. I grew up with a big brother and thought it was the best thing ever. I wanted that same experience for my own children, so when our first baby arrived a boy, I really could not have been happier.

 

In the years that followed, three other boys were added to our crew. I did not anticipate this boy-mom reality as being my parenting journey, but I am so thankful for each of my boys and I can not imagine our family made up in any other way.

 

As the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years and the years into seasons, my boys have all grown. Thankfully, so have I. But to watch your children grow from boys into men, girls into women, is a sight to behold. The beauty and boldness that surrounds these times is breathtaking. There have been many times over the years when I have stopped to breathe deep of the goodness of God that rests on each of them as I see it blossom and blow in unique ways. Life has not been without its challenges but these times have proven to be making and molding my boys into the men they are to become.

 

One summer not too long ago I witnessed one of these moments. It was one of those wonder-filled parenting moments we get a glimpse of every once in a while. I watched my boys and I realized anew that they were all in the midst of becoming. They were all in the midst of becoming who they will be, maybe who they want to be, but also who they don’t yet know they will be. This was both awesome and fearsome at the same time.

 

We were all together for approximately 15 minutes on a cloudy Saturday afternoon and we knew that we would not be together again until Thanksgiving when the older two would come home from school. This is a hard reality for a Mama, but at the same time there was an assurance, a settledness, and quiet peace that it is all going to be OK, that they will make it – and so will I.

 

Because they are all in the midst of becoming.

 

They are all – each one of them – in the midst of doing exactly what we have raised them to do: grow, love, serve, share. As their parents, we have poured in and nurtured and prayerfully provided the tools that we hoped would allow them to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around them, to be an extension of God’s love and grace and mercy into our larger world, and into their specific worlds.

 

This is who I see them becoming. This is what I bore witness to on that cloudy Saturday afternoon as we were all together standing on the grounds of the camp where three of them were loving, serving, and sharing that summer. This is what I let sink deep into my heart as my four boys-becoming-men stood huddled in a circle sharing a bond that only brothers can share, sharing their unique language of time and love and laughter that has been forged over the years. A unique brother-bond fashioned through some heartache and pain, through more than a few tough times and great years together. But there was also more than a little bit of grace poured in to provide healing and to build trust. Life!

 

As I watched my boys and realized they were in the midst of becoming, a new truth settled in my heart. It was a truth that is reflective of Jesus’ mother, Mary in Luke 2:19, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Later, in 2:51, we read the same sentiment, “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Both of these verses come directly after a time when I imagine Mary realizing that her Saviour-Son was in the midst of becoming – He was becoming who He was meant to be in and for our world. These verses directly follow two different times when Mary could have been angry or upset or confused by Jesus’ behaviour and actions. Yet she did not respond that way. Instead, she responded with a heart that treasured all her son was, while being in the midst of becoming all he will be. Mary didn’t miss these moments but rather she acknowledged them and held on tightly to them.

 

Mary treasured both the moment and the Man deep within her heart.

 

Like Mary, I want to treasure these moments when I witness my boys in the midst of becoming who they are meant to be. I, too, want to treasure both the moments and the men deep within my heart, and I want to celebrate them in the midst of their becoming! When God gives me a glimpse into all my boys are becoming, I do not want to miss it. I want to treasure it – oh boy, do I ever want to keep it nestled deep within the safety of my heart, where no one can take it away. This is the sacred privilege of being a Mom – these moments are mine to treasure in a way no one else can or will.

 

Hold tightly, dear Mama. Your heart-pondering moments are yours to treasure.

 

In truth, we are all in the midst of becoming because the act of becoming is a process – and an ongoing, never-ending one at that. Let’s celebrate being in the midst of becoming together! Let’s acknowledge and encourage each other on the journey to becoming more of who we are each called to be. This does not mean life will be perfect, all will be well, and no wrong decisions will ever be made. Rather it is in the midst of the messiness of life that we continue to grow, change, and learn. It is in the midst of the beautiful messiness of life that we – and our children – truly become.

 

I know that our becoming – my boys’ becoming – is more about who Jesus is than who I am, who my husband is, or who my boys are. I do not take credit for what God has done. I do not take full credit for who my boys are, but I am so very, very thankful to be the Mom who gets to watch, treasure and celebrate these moments and these men in the midst of their becoming.

 

 

2 responses to “Seasons of Motherhood: Guest Post with Amy Gordon”

1. Thank you Amy. Very moving take you wrote . And us moms identify as the picture gets even bigger becoming grparents. God gave us an amazing role and it’s beautiful to see how God carries us and our kids and for me, grkids into becoming…. especially Godlike

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   • I agree! A beautiful perspective for us to soak in!

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