On each chair there is a personality quiz when we go to sit down for lunch. It is a simple enough quiz where we choose one of four words that apply to us row by row. At the end, we count up our marks in each column and total them by each color - Orange, Green, Pink and Blue. I end up with blue.
The next session we walk into is led by Susan Merrill. She starts by telling us what the different colors mean. Pink is the perfect mom - the one whose home is always prepared for company. She's deep, thoughtful, creative, purposeful, self sacrificing. As a mom, she sets high standards, sees the problems and finds solutions, sacrifices her own will for others and encourages scholarship and talent. An example of a pink mom in the Bible is Hannah (1 Sam 1:10,24,26) Oh how I was wishing I was a pink mom.
The next color she talks about is orange - the popular mom. She's talkative, good sense of humor, life of the party, enthusiastic. As a mom, she is liked by her children's friends, turns disaster into humor, is a circus master. She gives Mary (Luke 10:39, John 12) as an example of a popular mom in the Bible. Oh, why or why did I not get orange?
Then Susan starts talking about the green mom - the powerful mom. Yep, I am already wanting to be a green mom - who wouldn't want to be powerful? The powerful mom is a born leader, strong willed, decisive, not easily discouraged, can run anything. As a mom, she establishes goals, motivates her family to action, knows the right answer, delegates work. Abigail (1 Sam 25:14) is given as an example of a powerful mom. I really, really, really want to be a green mom.
Now here it comes. The blue mom. It gets a title that just makes me cringe. The peaceful mom. Tell you what, I was not feeling peaceful right then. The peaceful mom is relaxed, patient, all-purpose, keeps emotions hidden. As a mom, the peaceful mom is not in a hurry, takes time for the children, doesn't get upset easily, good under pressure. Then Susan blows me away. Mary, mother of Jesus, (Luke 1:27) is who she sees as a peaceful mom. Wow. I'm a blue mom...and I love it!
The whole point of this exercise was not to be envious of the other colored moms, but to know that we are God's choice of moms for our children. He picks each mom and child combination and we need to be passionate moms. Susan uses Nehemiah as a great example of being a passionate person. Just as Nehemiah protected God's children, we need to protect our children. When there was a problem, Nehemiah perceived (1:2-3), pondered (1:4) and prayed because he had a purpose. We need to do the same. We need to take time to talk to our children - ask questions and listen to them. We need a purpose for our children. We also need to have passion AND joy as moms - the ultimate challenge. How can we win other moms to Christ if we don't find joy in being a mom? We need to find meaning, joy and purpose in being the mom we are because that is what being a mom is about.
 |
| http://www.susanme.com/passionatemom/ |
No comments:
Post a Comment