Marilynn Griffith stops by today to talk about spiritual pride as a mom. She is the author of eight novels, mother to seven children, wife to a deacon and proof of God’s enduring mercy. One of her novels, If the Shoe Fits, served as a prop in Tyler Perry’s box office hit Why Did I Get Married? She has served as national Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers and has served on faculty at several national writers conferences. When she’s not writing about friendship, family and faith, Marilynn blogs and speaks to women and writers.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.–Proverbs 16:18

At one point in my life, I think I took pride in my children. They knew their verses at church, treated people nice enough and were homeschooled and kept away from all the “bad” influences.

How naive I was. I forgot that they were spending most of their time with…ME! Now that I’ve had enough children to accept that their job is to make a fool out me in any way possible and lived long enough to
know that God’s grace is sufficient and much better than anything my weary flesh can muster, I am thankful that my kids aren’t scarred for life.

You see, the enemy is often inna-me as I once heard a preacher say. It’s my habits and attitudes (not my prayers and platitudes) that I’m now most concerned about. That and the fact that my youngest son is
intent on making everyone think I’m insane. This weekend, while at a relative’s house out of town, he picked up a six-pack of beer (which he’s only seen on TV, by the way). What do you think he fixed his mouth to say?

“I love beer. Can I have some?”

A few kids ago, I would have been a shrieking mess, swooping down on him like a hawk, shaking his shoulders for him to confess to everyone that he’d never had a beer or seen one in our home. These days, I just don’t have that kind of energy (and besides my mom was there to do it for me). What did I do? I laughed. The boy is an actor in his own movie.

My mother, however, was not amused.

“Have you ever had any beer?” she said, eyes narrowed.

“No, but I still love it. Want some?”

About then, I knew that we all needed a nap. I was reminded that whenever I put my faith in something or someone other than God, in the end, I will be disappointed. While there’s nothing wrong with desiring excellence in your family, remember that your children are not extensions of you, to be graded and paraded. They are a gift from God given for your care (and feeding!) until God releases them into their destiny, which is the same as ours–to change the world for Christ. Sometimes that means accepting that while life can be good, it’s rarely perfect.

Thanks for stopping by!

ABOUT THE BOOK
When her tall, dark, delicious husband joins their three kids in calling her “Mom,” Karol Simons has an identity crisis. Sure she loves the pint-size trio, but what’s happened to her dreams of writing a novel? Determined to have it all, she turns to her neighbor for help.
Dyanne Thornton is thrilled to stand in as Mom for three weeks so Karol can write. Bursting with baby fever, the career-woman trades her glamorous clothes and four-inch heels for the playground and potty training. She hopes to convince her reluctant husband they should start a family of their own, right away.
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