Spring is in the air and babies are being born! I know thirteen women who are pregnant right now and three who have just given birth in the past month. Praise to God for the blessing of children! In honor of new life, I have adapted the following devotional that I wrote for a friend’s baby shower last year. I hope it encourages new moms and that God uses these words to point young moms to Jesus, our Good Shepherd. This series is titled Hidden in My Heart, a three part series on treasuring God’s Word in our hearts as mothers and teaching our children to do the same.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV
While growing up, my parents had a little picture hanging on the wall with three little girls and a dog hiding from a storm in a hollowed out tree. In our family, we had three little girls and a dog. So as sisters, we personalized every picture we found that had three little girls. The verse that went along with that picture was:
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5b
Although this verse is referring to contentment regarding material possessions as mentioned in the first part of the verse 13:5a, the promise holds true that as children of God, He will never leave us or forsake us in any aspect of life as referenced in other Scriptures passages. (Context in Scripture is of utmost importance in interpretation and application).
As a young girl, I treasured that verse in my heart. Every time I would walk past it in our family room, I would read it and it would bring me joy knowing that God’s promises are true and faithful, and no matter what I encountered in life, He would never leave me or forsake me. This plaque on our wall became so special to me. I didn’t realize there was a deeper story behind it.
As a baby, I contracted the illness pertussis. I became so sick that I was hospitalized for over a week as the doctors tried to save my life. Hooked up to machines sustaining me with oxygen, my little body fought hard the symptoms of pertussis. Watching day and night from behind a glass window, my parents prayed unceasingly as they saw their daughter waste away. One day, my dad was so overcome with sorrow. He was walking through a store and found this plaque with three girls hiding in the storm. He picked it up knowing that this was what he needed to see and read each day during this storm they were in. They hung it up on their wall for 38 years.
This past Fall, when they came to visit just after they moved to a new house, my mom gave this to me as a gift, and my Dad told me the story. I had never known the background story of why this plaque came into our home. Now it all made sense why it was so important to me, and now it is hanging on the wall of my home, as a continuing reminder of God’s mighty works in my life to share with my children as a testimony.
As the years continued on, through the joys of childhood and growing up, I would one day be faced with a new illness for a time, another season of my Mom and Dad holding my hand through a new storm. And again, we would look to God’s Word for our comfort, that Scripture plaque that held the promise of God’s presence and shelter from the storm. There is so much hope knowing that my Savior would never leave me or forsake me.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:8-9 ESV
Seeing Scripture on the walls of our home impacted me greatly. It was a static reminder about the truth of God. And when you see something every day for 20 years of your life, you memorize it. That is why it is valuable to put Scripture up around your home, whether on your walls, in a frame, posted on your fridge, or taped to the bathroom mirror on an index card. Its not only valuable, its a command of our God as one of the ways we will hide or treasure God’s Word in our hearts and teach our children to do the same.
In Deuteronomy, God through Moses, is preparing the nation of Israel to enter the Promised Land. Moses is explaining God’s law and how to pass it on for the new generation. It showcases God’s loving care for His people and their children. Decorating our homes with God’s statutes and testimonies is His idea. It is like an “Eben-Ezer”, which means a stone of help, a memorial of the mighty acts of God.
For Israel, it was so that they would not forget Him and go after the idols of the people surrounding them. It is the same for us. God’s command in having His Word be put everywhere in His people’s lives is meant to remind us daily of His faithfulness, His provision, His holy ways, and His mercies, new every morning.
Scripture Art from Hand Lettering Co.
How can we do this in our homes? There are many creative ways! Some people actually write Scripture on their doorposts and gates! But you can also do this other ways. One of my favorite ways is by purchasing Scripture Art from Hand Lettering Co. My husband purchased several pieces to decorate our former church. We also bought several pieces for our own home. To learn more about their Scripture art and support this beautiful business, check out Hand Lettering Co.
Scripture Art from Hand Lettering Co.
Another resource which I have benefitted from is French Press Mornings. Free Scripture art is featured each week to download and print. You can download and print these from your own computer for use at home or purchase copies from her etsy shop.
My hope is that through the years, my children will daily see these pieces of Scripture, and that the Lord will direct my children’s gaze to His Word all over our home, comforting them in times of trial, reminding them of God’s promises, and strengthening them in truth. May it be like a stone of help and a remembrance of how God has brought us through different seasons or trials in our life. It is the Holy Spirit who works through His Word to bring to salvation all who are called. We as parents are called to follow God’s commands in teaching our children God’s Word, setting up our banners and letting lose the sails, praying that the Holy Spirit will fill those sails and bring about fruit in His season.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11 NIV
Scripture Art from Hand Lettering Co.