Surrender in Motherhood

Alexandra Jensen shares how she’s surrendered her children to God.

By Alexandra Jensen

Surrender

Surrender and control in motherhood are two conflicting facets that are salient to the
brilliance of the diamond as a whole. I do believe there is such a thing as healthy control in being
a mom. Parameters and necessary boundaries help our children feel safe, confident, and secure.
On the other hand, white-knuckling one’s way through motherhood and refusing to allow
choices, some freedom, and ultimately breathe room for the Holy Spirit to enter into is a
detrimental path I have seen many well-intentioned parents take.

Helicopter Parenting

Helicopter parenting is a real thing. Contrary to this idea, one of the best approaches we
can take is to lead our children into the greenest pastures possible, where they can graze freely.
These “green pastures” are institutions outside of the home that are often faith-based. Church,
Christian summer camps, sports leagues, grandma’s house, and sometimes school could be
considered green pastures. As long as we are doing our best as parents to place our children in
environments that are safe, healthy, and conducive to faith construction, we have nothing to fear.
Instead, we should pray for our children and live by faith knowing the Creator of the world has
our children’s hearts and lives in the palm of His hand.

Releasing Our Children to God

We must release the seeds of our children’s hearts to God so that He can do His secret
holy work beneath the soil. Only Jesus can catalyze our children’s spiritual growth through the
power of the Holy Spirit. We can direct our children, but ultimately Jesus is the One who is
going to call them home.

We are Called

As moms, we have been handed a staff by the Good Shepherd. He has entrusted to us the
littlest of his flock. A staff’s job is to direct and protect the sheep. That is our job as Christian

Mamas, to direct and protect our children in the best way that we know how. We cannot control
the fact that wolves will wander into their lives. But we can always pray for their safety and lead
them to the greenest pastures possible. When they go astray, as many sheep do, we can adopt
Jesus’ example and leave the ninety-nine to go and find them, and welcome them home with
open arms.

Obedience

We must not hinder our children from coming to Jesus by our well-intentioned means of
controlling their lives. Instead, we must build them up and ramp them into adulthood. Instead of
leading our children to frustration with our tight-gripped approach, let us approach God’s throne
of grace and pray that he would ultimately lead them to live lives of love for the Lord and grow
up to be spiritual leaders who point people to Jesus.

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord gave Moses words to pray over and bless the children of Israel. We can use
these same words to pray for our children today:

“‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

Meet Alexandra Jensen

Alexandra, “Alex” Jensen is a Steering Team Leader for the MomCo. Organization. Alex and her husband attend Battlecreek Church in Tulsa Oklahoma. Alex has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a Minor in Creative Writing, and a Master’s degree in Math and Science Education. She is a former Elementary school teacher. Alex is a wife, stay-at-home mother of three, and antiques dealer. She has written a couple of books about motherhood that are available on Amazon: A Place of Grace for Moms of Littles and The Meaning of Motherhood. Check out her website and weekly blog for moms at www.alexandrajensen.org.

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