I was 35,000 feet up in the air when it happened the first time. While flying to speak at a church my gaze shifted from the clouds around the aircraft to the open Bible in my lap. As I began to review the passage for the “Chalk Talk” that night, I noticed that God’s Word was blurry. Literally foggy. I squinted, blinked, and rubbed my eyes to clarify the type, but my vision was still cloudier than what I saw outside my window seat.
Following that high-altitude experience, I tossed my first pair of reading glasses (“cheaters” as they call ‘em) in my grocery cart that week alongside the milk and bread for the family. Wanting eye glasses wherever I needed to read, my second, third, and fourth pair were added soon after that. Yep. I quickly deduced that seeing clearly is clearly important.
With only a few months under my 40th birthday belt, I scheduled my first appointment with an optometrist. After the eye evaluation (which in itself is a challenge for those of us who are indecisive), my eye doctor advised my lifestyle would be well suited for mono-vision contacts.
Mono-vision is where one contact is prescribed for up close reading. The other contact is prescribed for distance viewing. He explained, “I need to warn you that some people cannot adjust to this bi-visionary approach. But for those who can balance seeing both far-sighted and near-sighted simultaneously, mono-vision is truly life-changing!”
He was right. He’s still right. If I simply take time every morning to put in my contacts, mono-vision brings clarity and focus to life both far and near throughout my day. Isn’t that the same with Mom-vision? We, as mommas, need clear vision for both the big-picture wide-angle view of tomorrow as well as the up-close and personal details of today.
Maybe your vision has become blurred from the jet-propelled pace of life or darkened by the shadows of un-welcomed circumstances. Sometimes all in the same hour, right? No doubt, modern day moms lead mono-vision kind of lives. Modern-day moms need the mono-vision only God can impart.
God’s mono-vision for the future brings our “mom-vision” into focus!
As a woman who lived her entire life both blind and deaf, Helen Keller once expressed this powerful truth. “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” She echoed God’s truth from Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Like my air plane window-seat view, moms need to see God’s big picture and maintain His eternal perspective. Only He can open our eyes to see it. What is God’s “Big Picture” for us as moms?
From the beginning, God’s vision for the first parents was cast in Genesis 1:28. “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Jesus reflected this same visionary challenge in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” And then before leaving earth, Christ’s final command in Matthew 28:19 magnifies a parallel vision. “Go and make disciples of all the nations.”
These clear commands to be fruitful and multiply begin near and dear, in our homes (in our daughters) before impacting the world. But Christ’s vision did not communicate, “Take your kiddos to church” or “Pray your children get their tickets into heaven,” Instead the bold letters on His eye chart state our vision as His disciples (and parents) clearly is to “Make disciples who make disciples.” That’s God’s big-picture multiplication. His exciting wide-angle vision.
And that’s our large screen backdrop for the Heart of Womanhood Ministry too. We exist to equip YOU as moms to clarify and magnify God’s truth for this next generation in creative, hands-on ways.
We believe that as we “teach these truths to our trustworthy children, they will be able to pass them on to the next generations!” (2 Timothy 2:2) From God’s point of view, your faithful focus in discipling the girls in your sphere of influence, in your home, will impact the next generation, and even the world! Is global, generationally-focused parenting kind of scary because it is so God-sized? You betcha! But read this in large print: You can step into this high calling with confidence because God promises that “He will equip you with all you need for doing His will!” (Hebrews 13:21)
And Heart of Womanhood Bible Studies are prayerfully crafted instruments available to help you pilot your children through this life with God’s high-altitude perspective.
God’s mono-vision makes our “mom-vision” for what’s near, far more clear!
I can still vividly picture my years as a young momma. Each day seemed to be an eternity. Some days I couldn’t see past the diapers, laundry, and continual toddler training to next week, let alone to envision the teen years, empty nest or the next generation. Other days were spent yearning for the kid’s next nap time, or bed time, or mom’s day out! I began to daily ask God for stronger near-sightedness during that precious season of life.
Frequently God would use my hubby as a point of contact to make the near…more clear! Steve would wisely remind me, “Kim, be where your feet are!” Yes. I needed clearer mono-vision.
While our feet must stay grounded in today, God can keep His big picture for our future in view. To be where my feet were each day as a mom, I had to frequently choose to unplug from outside pressure. Intentionally live more hands free from my phone. Savor the here and now. Truly enjoy each stage and age. Not spend my days in tomorrow! Can you relate?
It became clear that it was daily time spent with Jesus (our Divine Eye Doctor) that equips us with clear mono-vision to see the there and tomorrow as we live here and now! Heart of Womanhood (HOW) Bible Studies grew from this godly vision to invest in our “now.” Easy to read and lead, practical and powerful, these studies from Proverbs 31 can make your near years truly dear years with your daughter!
Those days may have seemed long at the time, but now they seem like a blink of my eye when I glance at them in my rear-view mirror. Seeing our grown daughters today, there is truly “No greater joy than to know that our children are walking in God’s truth.” (3 John 1:4) They are each “making disciples who can make more disciples!” But God’s BIG vision began as tiny truths planted in their hearts throughout ordinary days in seemingly small ways.
I love the way Josh Wilson’s song captures God’s mono-vision viewpoint for us as moms:
It’s a momma singing songs about the Lord
It’s a daddy spending family time that the world said he cannot afford
These simple moments change the world
Dream small. Don’t buy the lie you’ve gotta do it all
Just let Jesus use you where you are. One day at a time
Live well. Loving God and others as yourself
Find little ways where only you can help
With His great love a tiny rock can make a giant fall
Dream small
Keep loving, keep serving, Keep listening, keep learning
Keep praying, keep hoping, Keep seeking, keep searching
Out of these small things, watch them grow bigger
The God who does all big things, makes oceans…from rivers
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with bigger dreams
Just don’t miss the minutes on your way, God’s bigger things
‘Cause these simple moments change the world
Dream Small.
No doubt, to have 20/20 vision, modern day moms must simultaneously see clearly both far and near; both big and small. Modern day moms must lead mono-vision kind of lives. Modern-day moms need the mono-vision only God can impart through daily contact with Jesus.
God’s mono-vision makes our mom-vision clearly Jesus focused!
Since my first days of contacts, I now maintain good vision. But I’ve also learned in the 16 years since, there is a big difference between GOOD vision and GOD-vision! My eye doctor annually adjusts my contacts so I maintain good vision physically. But GOD-vision? That requires daily adjustments. Good vision is when your eyes see clearly. GOD vision is when your heart sees and pursues what’s on God’s heart. Good vision navigates earthly issues. GOD vision navigates earth with heavenly insight.
With constantly changing blind spots of our own, we live daily needing road side assistance like the blind man in Luke 18:35-43.
“As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. They told him that Jesus…was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”…When Jesus heard him,…He asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight!” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.”
As mono-vision moms, the question Jesus asks us today is the same, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Like the blind man, may we humbly beg from our hearts, “Lord, I want to see.” If “mono” means ONE, then above all…Mono-Vision Mommas must focus on The ONE who is above all. When we maintain strong eye-contact with Jesus, He will bring everything, both far and near into focus. And our mom-vision eyes will see the day when our next generation of daughters will lead visionary lives praising God too!
