It seems that many mothers find cooking for their families a chore. “Oh no, not another meal to cook for this hungry family.” “Here I go again, day after day, day after day, with no let up!”
Dear mother, can I encourage you that preparing meals for your family is not insignificant? Do you remember what Jesus said in Mark 9:41? “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink IN MY NAME, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”
These are the words of Jesus. They will never fail. If Jesus says that we will not lose our reward if we give a cup of water in His name, what about preparing a whole meal?
Every time you prepare a meal for your family—breakfast, lunch, and supper, God is watching. When you do it with the right attitude, when you do it as unto Him, when you do it in His name, He promises that you will not lose your reward.
Oh what a blessing to be a mother. Just think of how many rewards you are going to receive from cooking meals day after day for years! Of course, we do it in His name, not with a bad, complaining attitude.
And what a blessing to prepare each meal for our family, but at the same time “as unto the Lord, and “in His name.” It takes you to a whole new realm. Because you are doing it for the Lord, you will want to make each meal special, knowing that Jesus desires to sit with you at your meal.
Don’t you love these words?
Christ is the Head of this home,
The Unseen Guest at every meal,
The Silent Listener to every conversation.
Many people have these wonderful words hanging on their wall. It’s a great reminder isn’t it? Jesus wants to be included at your meal table.
Many blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
Picture: Interesting observation: when I look for a picture of a mother cooking in her home, it is nearly impossible to find a contemporary one—they are all vintage. What has happened to mothers cooking homemade meals? Or maybe you have a picture to send me. That would be wonderful.
Don't you love these words? So true.
The greatest blessing you can have in your home is the presence of the Lord. When the ark of the Lord (which represents the presence and glory of God) was in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, the Bible says that “the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household” (II Samuel 6:11).
The other day my lovely daughter-in-law, Simone, sent me this idea.
Discipline is training. And training is a daily process. It’s not just for the moment, but for the future. You are preparing your children for their success, for marriage, to fulfill God’s destiny upon their lives. Therefore, you cannot let the little things go unattended. Deal firmly with negative attitudes and moods and laziness as well as disobedience and willfulness so these things do not become habits in their lives. 
“The greatest thing you will ever do in your life is to be a part of the creative act of God by giving birth to a brand new, refreshing, sweet life. It is the greatest privilege and glorious honor ever bestowed upon women. I now look at my children and tell them, ‘You’re the best thing I ever did.’”
Is this an outlandish statement? No, it is the truth. Everything that happens in this world, the workforce, the great inventions, the amazing feats all happen through people. And everyone of these people come to the world no other way than through the womb of a mother! The womb of the mother is a powerful place. It is a place if destinies. I wonder who God has planned to bring into the world through your womb? How sad to forfeit plans that God has for this world. 
You’d better believe it. Why do we do last that which we should do first? You have no greater weapon in your hand than prayer! 
Have you read God’s Word to your children today? And if they are of reading age, have you taught them the habit of reading God’s Word themselves each day? I love the quote of the Chinese man who said: “No Bible, no breakfast!” He would not feed his body until he had first fed his soul and spirit. Don’t let the souls and spirits of your children starve! 
Are you building today? We build with every word and every decision we make. Make every moment a building moment (Proverbs 14:1). 
Home is where God loves children to be. Make your home a place where your children love to be, filled with peace, love, righteousness , contentment, and happiness. 
The next question we need to ask is: “what are you teaching your children? It's easy to get into the mode of packing information into your children's brains, the more the better! But "information" is not education. "Right thinking" is education. Unless your children know how to think correctly, information won't do them a lot of good.
Are you facing a storm in your life? This is when God delights to come to your aid. Do you remember when the disciples were in the midst of the storm and battered by the waves? Jesus came walking on the water and what did Jesus say to His terrified disciples? “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matthew 14:27). The meaning of the word “cheer” is to “take courage.”
I am sure, like me, you have found a rotten potato in your bag of potatoes. Isn’t it such a foul smell? There’s nothing worse. I found one the other night in my bag. The only trouble with a rotten potato is that it contaminates all the other potatoes around it! I had to throw out a few others that were beginning to rot around it. And then wash all the others!
Do you feel that no one wants to listen to the understanding God has given you about having children or other precious truths God has revealed to you? Don’t be disappointed. In II Chronicles 30:10-11 NASB we read: "The couriers passed from city to city . . . but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. Nevertheless, some men . . . humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem."
In the last two posts I wrote to you we discovered that David wanted to build a house for the Lord that was exceedingly magnificent and of fame and glory. David never got to fulfil his dream because God wanted his son, Solomon to build the house. When Solomon began to build this house, he used even more adjectives. He confessed that he was going to build a “GREAT and WONDERFUL” house.
It’s easy to get hooked on negative and self-pitying thoughts, isn’t it? We must cast out these thoughts and acknowledge the truth, that Christ dwells in us. His life in us is love, rest, peace, joy, patience, and victory. In other words, we either yield to the flesh or the power of the Spirit who dwells in us. 
Yesterday we read how God wants us to build a magnificent home for him. But it’s not enough to build a magnificent home for God. Did you notice that we are to build an EXCEEDINGLY magnificent home? I love the way the Bible is filled with adjectives? Nothing about God is average and therefore the Bible needs adjectives to describe God’s plan for us.
Dear mother, one of your great career credentials is that you are a builder. Proverbs 14:1 says: “Every wise woman builds her house.” What kind of a home are you building? Our aim should be more than building a home for a family but building a home for God. David had a vision to build a home for God and his desire was to make it “exceedingly magnificent” and “of fame and glory.” 2 Chronicles 2:5 says: “The house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all countries”
I think that must be one of the greatest challenges that modern parents face. It is becoming the norm for even young children to have iPhones and iPads, etc. How do you handle this in your home?