Moments for Mom

November 2002 

I just saw a woman letting her young (and I mean young) children sit in the front seat of her car, not only not in car seats, but unbuckled as well.  That gets under my skin so much.  I actually heard myself saying out loud, ‘Citizen’s arrest!  Citizen’s arrest!’  

Then I felt the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit – ‘Beth, don’t be too judgmental…she may be being reckless with her children physically…but are there any areas that you are reckless with Sara and Jack emotionally or spiritually?’  

Ouch.  Maybe my kids are booster-seated in every time we hop in the van, but on a consistent basis, am I strapping them in with my love?  Do they know beyond a shadow of a doubt at every turn that I love them completely?  Do they feel appreciated enough to be themselves?  Protected enough to try new things?  Secure enough to leave the fold now and then? 

Am I buckling them up in the love of God?  Do they know – I mean really know - in their albeit limited, childlike capacity – that Jesus died for them, because He loves them?  Are they hemmed in with the immensity of God?  Are they fastened together with the knowledge that they were created by the Creator of all things?  

Am I telling them all these things? 

Am I showing them all these things? 

Or am I just being reckless? 

Ó Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2002

Elisabeth K. Corcoran is the author of Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (2001), which would make an excellent Christmas gift for the moms in your life.  It can be purchased directly through her publisher, Kregel Publications at #1-888-644-0500 or www.kregel.com, or at amazon.com, chrbook.com or familychristian.com, or through your local Christian bookstore. This column is original and not excerpted from her book.