We are always striving to be better. Better having more patience. Better structuring time management. Better managing our health. Better in our roles as mom. At day’s end, when I flop into bed, rather than letting myself drift off to sleep, I will often stare up at the ceiling and contemplate what I could have done different that day as a wife and mom--and what I could have done better. How could I have responded better when the situation required self-control? What would have been a better approach during a teaching moment with my child? How could I have been a better support to my husband after he came home from work? I even wonder how I could have prepared a better meal for dinner. (Easy: ordered take-out!)

Each one of us can look at our day and cross-examine our behavior but we have to be careful not to celebrate ourselves in the process. Having a humble, submissive heart before God and asking Him to help transform us is a powerful prayer when wanting to improve and do a better job. For King David tells us: “Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path.” (Psalm 27:11)

For me, I know I need to submit and surrender those habits and tendencies that prevent me from not just being better in my role as mom but from being more Christlike. For if I can reflect God’s image, then I can be “better,” but by His standards, not my own, and certainly not by the world’s. And it’s such a process, isn’t it?

As moms, we have the opportunity to look to God for refinement, and to take advantage of the situations that come up where we can practice becoming the person He wants us to be. “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” (Psalm 26:2-3)

As much as we want to teach values and insure that certain characteristics are being developed in our children, is as much as God wants to do the same in us. There is a refining process going on that the Lord is doing in me and I need to remember that He continues to mold my character even while I am in the process of raising my children.

So what is it that makes you a better mom? Choosing to play a board game with your child instead of doing the household tasks that can wait? Taking time to replenish yourself by doing what is meaningful to you? Is it when you are enjoying quiet time with the Lord, reading parenting books or perhaps being able to connect with other moms and friends on a regular basis? Maybe it’s in the moments when you take your child to the park when you’re lacking energy to gear up and head out the door.

The question really isn’t what makes us better moms, but who makes us better moms. The answer is Jesus. And with Him at your side, you’re better already.

Blessings, Linda

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Linda Tang

Prior to becoming a mother, Linda worked as Assistant Marketing Director for KABC Radio in Los Angeles generating publicity for TalkRadio, ESPN and KLOS radio stations. Additionally, she worked at Miss Universe Inc., marketing the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss TEEN USA CBS telecasts. After graduating from Syracuse University, Linda was hired at Petersen Publishing’s Hunting, Fishing and ‘TEEN Magazines. It was during that time when she wrote and published her first YA novel entitled, Picture Perfect (Lunchbox Press, 2001).

Aside from working in her children’s classrooms each week at the Open Classroom Leadership Magnet, she serves as a group discussion leader at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and keeps her hand in publicity and marketing on a contractual basis. Having struggled with the transition from career to motherhood, Linda decided to write a book addressing God’s role in re-establishing a woman's identity in their role as mom. She is represented by Blythe Daniel Literary Agency in Colorado Springs, CO. You can check out Linda's blog at: www.lindawriteson.com (Shaping Your Identity in Motherhood).

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