i am a mom on a mission

i am missing my young daughters tonight, olivia and amanda. they have been out of town with my sister for a week and a half. amanda, my youngest daughter, called last night right before i was going to bed just to talk. but, i knew she was feeling a little homesick. it really made me miss her more. rachel has said more than a couple of times that she misses them both too. nothing makes a momma's heart melt more than when one of her children show love and affection for the other, especially when most of the time, more bickering and frustration is shown than affection. it really touches me when i can experience with my own eyes what i already know is true. they love each other a lot.

when i think about my family, i am in awe at the intensity of the love that i have for them. i want them to grow up knowing that. sometimes, the everyday wear and tear of busyness prevents the expression of appreciation and love. i think that busyness is from the devil himself. his whole purpose is to extinguish love or the experience of it. he has been trying to accomplish that since the day we were created. he does anything he can do to prevent love from being expressed, mostly through lies and distractions.

i recently read a post written by Julianne at mom on a mission . she gave us moms a mission to tell our kids that we love them at least nine times each day. so, i decided to pay attention to myself and check to see how often i tell them that i love them. i realized that it was not often enough. i found myself telling my baby jacob that i loved him all the time. but, my older children did not receive the same quantity of those words of expression of love from me. why is that? i do not love jacob any more than i love my other children by any means. i love them all the same. just because they are older does not mean they do not need to know and hear that i love them over and over again too. if they do not hear it and know it, then they may doubt it. i do not want that. i want them to always be able to trust in my love for them. trust is the result of knowing they are truly loved.

so, i started being more conscientous about making sure that i tell them that i love them as often as i think about it. that is one of the things that Julianne said she did as well. i love being more aware of speaking my love to each of my children. hearing the words "i love you" does something inside of all of us and speaking the words "i love you" does too. the distractions and lies of the enemy are not going to work in my home anymore. help me Lord to remember to express my love for all of my children many times each day. i am a mom on a mission. i love them so much and i know they need to hear it.