I have always wanted to be a mama.

When I would dream of being a mom as a girl, my misty-eyed fantasies included tea parties, walks in the park pushing our dollies, and long hours curled up with fascinating books.

Having only one sister until I was 16, motherhood just meant baking cookies and working puzzles.    And then I had my first child…

…an energetic, bright eyed, busy, but beautiful little boy.

And then I had another boy…

..and another, and another.

Not all in a row, mind you. I have 3 girls and 4 boys now.  And I am the richest woman in the world.

But, having two boys first definitely set the tone in our home.  I was hurled into a world of cars and trucks, tools and play guns. Running and jumping, and throwing your body into the air in ways a girl would never imagine.  And the energy…where does the male species get such energy?

The Lord knew what was best for me in giving me these precious boys.  He knew my life needed excitement and a zest for life that little men can only give.  And they are little men, let me tell you.  I never realized when I married my dear husband that I would have several smaller clones of him.  🙂

It is a great responsibility to be raising the next generation of leaders.  And we so desire our sons to be godly young men.  And what is one of the best way to do that?

To encourage their relationship with other godly men. Young men need older mentors to look up to.  They will never learn what it means to have spiritual maturity if they spend all their time with their peers.  To teach them to value true manliness they need to be around true men.  Not big boys, but true men.  They need to be surrounded by godly examples of those that are taking their roles as leaders in their home and in society seriously.  They need to be saturated with these kinds of influences.

Too often our sons are thrown into spending large amounts of time with their own peers, who are also floundering to find their way through the years of adolescence.  Such company, in large quantities, can lead to the silly foolishness and dissipation that we see so often in our youth.  There is much against their virtue in our society. But, to find a young man seeking wisdom from the gray hairs among them is a blessing indeed.

I am blessed to have a spiritually minded husband, whose greatest delight in life is to be with his children.  He takes the relationship with his sons, and all his children very seriously.  My sons greatest desire is to be like their Dad.  To see them ask him to sit with them at church during lunch, with a table of their friends is such a joy.  They are proud of their dad.  This is the way it should be.  And it is a treasure to be held carefully.

But, not all boys have this relationship with their fathers, and some may have examples from their dads that could be harmful.  This surely is a burden for a mother that desires her sons to follow the Lord.  What, dear sister, can you do?  May I offer three suggestions?

• Pray for your sons in an even more fervent way.  May your concern and burden be as fuel to flame the fire of desire in your prayers.  Look to the Lord to be your advocate and helper through your difficulty.
• Find the things that are positive about your husband and highlight these things to your sons.  In all ways, show honor to their father and bring these good traits to the forefront for your sons to imitate.
• Find godly mentors in your church that can fill this place in your young men’s lives.  Many a man has had a great influence on the younger generation, just by taking the time to care.

We need to be storming heaven with our prayers for our boys.

Overall, I feel so inadequate in the raising of sons.  But, I cling to the Lord for daily wisdom.  He can impact their hearts through so many ways in His providence. Oh, for grace to be mothers of the next generation of leaders!

I am linking up with Growing Godly Men, Serenity Now, Like a Bubbling Br0ok, Best Posts of the Week. Homemaker by Choice