The Calling of Marriage

I'm so thankful for this sermon by John Piper on Honoring the Biblical call to Motherhood:

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/honoring-the-biblical-call-of-motherhood#/listen/full

The world does not celebrate this calling-the high call to marriage-showing the union between Christ and the church; the call to motherhood-pouring your life into your family day in and day out; the managing of a home-having a true vision to create a simple beautiful place, which is a living organism which is a place of refuge in Christ's peace.

Lately, i have been struggling with the adversity of others when it comes to my view (the Biblical view) of marriage and family. Satan has really used it to bring my spirit down at just the right time (when our daughter is 8 weeks old!). Small little comments that are made towards me are not taken lightly, and i often find myself laying in bed at night questioning my calling, having to remind myself of Proverbs 31 over and over again, and verses in 1 John that say, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever"

Here is a part of the sermon where he talks about his mom's influence on his life. its what i wish maggie would say about me someday-

First, God’s honor was paramount for my mother. I wrote:

“I never got spanked for makin’ mess in my pants,
but I did for skippin’ church;
which goes to show mama cared more about keeping; God’s name
and my soul clean
than she did her own hands.”

Second, she was never cynical about my weaknesses but always tenderly empathetic. I wrote:

When I had to give my first “part” in Training Union,
right after promotion day when everybody is older,
she showed me how to write the main points on a card
and listened just before supper while I practiced on her;
she never let on it wasn’t life and death.

Third, she had a Bible-saturated concern for my heart. I wrote:

Mama knew the Good Book—especially the Proverbs;
years later when I was three thousand miles away
she kept on quotin’ Proverbs in her salutations.
The message was always the same—the pulse beat of her heart—
Be wise son, be truly wise:
Fear God and keep your heart warm.

Fourth, mingled with fiercely earnest faith in the realities in heaven and hell and the seriousness of the Christian life, my mother had an utterly uninhibited sense of humor. I wrote:

Maybe Paul couldn’t imitate baby-chatter
or Mrs. Loren Jones or all the characters in a church play;
but mama could—and then how she would laugh!
Why I’ve seen her and Grandma Mohn—
one hundred-thirty years worth of German sobriety—
guffaw till their tears wet the table cloth.
It would start with a short soprano burst
that could split the eardrums;
her silver head would toss backward
and her long white teeth would flash under her sharp nose,
and her tanned neck would redden as the tendons flinched.
She was a vision of health and joy;
and I never felt better than when mama laughed.

Fifth, she took right and wrong very seriously and held me accountable to the highest standards so that I knew in all the conflict I mattered a lot to my mother. I wrote:

And I seldom felt worse than when mama cried:
I got a speedin’ ticket one night
and mama wept like I’d shot somebody.
All the way to the station at midnight she cried
and made me pay it off right then and there.
One thing was for sure:
I mattered a lot to mama.

What I owe my mother for my soul and my love to Christ and my role as a husband and father and pastor is incalculable.