For the Moms – Tides of Faith w/ Angela Lawley – The Marked Life Blog

How many children do you have?  Two 
How old are your child(ren) OR how long have you been a mom? 23 & 18
Are you a mom of girls, boys, or both? Adult Sons

Hello, my beautiful friends. My name is Angela Lawley.

I’m so happy to share my life and a little about myself with you. I have been married for 24 years to my college sweetheart Ryan, and I have two adult sons, Nicholas and Aiden, ages 23 and 18.

My husband and I own our business teaching music lessons to children and some adults. It has been my joy to connect with moms throughout the years. That’s how my Ministry, Giving Hope, started—the outreach to moms coming into our music store. I got to know them, we connected, and I have had an open door to minister to them. God moved in our business and Giving Hope. We shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with many families over the years. And He has been moving in our lives to change lives ever since.

I’m excited to share my thoughts on topics many of us have struggled with as moms and wives.

We all have so much in common.

I pray that my words will comfort you and reassure you that you are on the right path with the Lord. You need only to keep going. 

My life has been adventurous. It has been full of ups and downs, like so many of you have experienced in your own life. Through these years, I have learned to trust the Lord in every situation through all seasons. Whether with raising my children, praying for my marriage, or honoring my parents. I have placed my life in the hands of the Lord. I allow His word to guide me in all areas of my life. We say we can handle things when we detach from God’s will. We want things our way and not God’s.

Being a child of a minister has afforded me the ability to see the world through different eyes. I watched my parents lead in the body of Christ and have a blessed marriage. I was able to learn so many lessons from their example. When my husband and I married, we applied many of their standards to our lives. Their dedication to God was at the top of our priorities.

My husband came from a broken home, and even though my house had its struggles, we both knew that the common thread of Jesus made our homes work. So, we focused on keeping Jesus in the middle of our life. The way we saw each other and the way we raised our sons. We even placed Jesus in the middle of running our business.

Jesus is our constant.

The Holy Spirit is our actual counselor.

We’ve learned through mere observation that the only way to be successful in every area of our lives is to keep Jesus and His word in the middle as a guidepost. When Jesus said HE was the Way, The Truth, and The Life, He wasn’t joking! Putting God in the center of your life is the key to a healthy, thriving life.

No additives.

Just Jesus.

My faith is everything to me. It is woven into everything I do, see and think. I no longer respond to moments through my flesh or upbringing.

I learned long ago that if we respond to our children, spouse, family, or church members, this is a severely flawed response, even if it comes from a “good” place.

Jesus said no man is good, not one, only the Father in heaven. So, I learned to hone my responses through the word of God, led by His spirit.

It has taken me a long time but has saved many relationships.

It has helped me create healthy boundaries, and above all, it has brought me closer to the Father in Heaven.

We will have a heart like God when we are led by faith. No weapon formed against it will prosper.

God honors those who seek him, and I’ve learned my prayer life has amped so that I don’t even have to stop what I’m doing to pray. I can hear it in my spirit and come into agreement with the Holy Spirit, and it is done. 

in what ways do we rely on our own wisdom or strength as Mothers?

Allow me to touch on some subjects I see as struggles in some lives.

Knowing your motherly strength and wisdom can be a cultural experience. Depending on [who] your childhood examples were, will depend on the answer.

My mom was very hands-on, but above all else, my mom loved Jesus. So when she would work through any event in our lives as kids, she filtered it through the Word of God.

I would watch her pray before disciplining us. I would watch her pray before talking to my dad if she had a bad day. So as an adult, I do the same.

My mom’s example was vital in my trust in who I am as a mom and a wife. Many women have shacky grounds with their confidence in who they are because of the lack of a model growing up. We have an example of either trusting who we are or doubting who we are.

I always thank God that my parents trusted the Lord. I am unsure if I would be any good as a parent if I didn’t have the truth of God’s word sewn deep into the fiber of my being.

There is also an intuition that God has placed on the inside of us. It’s like spiritual training wheels. When we become Christians, instinct turns into discernment, which can grow into a prophetic gift to hear only the voice of God. But it takes us to trust the Lord first with the gift he gave us as women to know how to be the best mom in our own way—uniquely placed in our child’s life with purpose.

What are Some Falsehoods that you Believed as a Mom?

There are some falsehoods that I have believed many times as a mom.

One of the falsehoods is; I am alone in my burdens.

I have had many doubts about being a mom and whether I am doing it right. The number one tactic of the enemy is to isolate us. To keep us from relating to each other. Feeling all alone in your emotions is a tactic of the devil.

I became relieved when I could see that I wasn’t alone in my feelings of defeat or inadequacy, even in all my struggles; simple struggles like my baby not wanting to sleep for me but for my husband. I heard in my head that my baby didn’t want me because he knew I was not a good mom. I mean, come on! That is a lie from the pit of hell. But, I entertained it.

There are also the thoughts that being tired is a sign of weakness. Again, this is a lie from the pit!

I thought I would be a bad mom if I didn’t have a clean home. Until I was with a group of moms, I saw how lied to me was. When we had bible studies, I would visit friends who didn’t care if I saw the dirty dishes and the pile of laundry. I didn’t feel alone. I didn’t have to have a perfect life with perfect kids.

When we get caught up in having everything just so [perfect], we tend not to enjoy the little moments with our children. These “worries” tend to be time suckers. Things that can get you busy with the wrong things.

Now that my kids are grown, I don’t look back and regret all the dishes that didn’t get done or laundry that wasn’t folded. All those things got done and never got out of hand. I look back and miss all those little moments. Moments that I wish I could have back or spend longer in.

Don’t allow the enemy to rob you with time from your kids by keeping you in your head, comparing yourself to other moms who appear to have it together. 

How has God Preserved You through the Pressures of Motherhood?

This will be a short answer: by being faithful to His word.

When my oldest was young, he got sick. I was so worried about him.

The Lord brought to my remembrance all the times He healed me and guided me.

As I was holding Nicholas, I began to pray over him. The Spirit of the Lord rose up within me, and I prayed with authority I never felt before and Nicholas was healed.

Over and over again when I felt at my lowest, all I did was cry out to God. He would fill me with the boldness and wisdom to trust Him and I would know everything would be ok, no matter the outcome. Even if it didn’t look how I wanted it to look. I knew God had me in the palm of His hand and He would work it out to His good will.

Since then, many times have come and gone where I have been gripped with fear, but His love and peace has been there to see me through. This is important.

We should never live our life under pressure. Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden light.

We should also never compare ourselves to others. None of our journeys are the same, so there is no comparison.

We should only live our lives seeing ourselves through the eyes of heaven because every good and perfect gift comes from Him.

God’s plan for you is perfect. Trust Him.

Have You ever Felt clearly guided by the Holy Spirit regarding raising You children? If so, how?

I am going to be really real here and I will leave you with this. It was when my oldest was just a year old. Let me say it was a struggle to create a boundary with my in-laws.

They weren’t used to someone like me. I am very strong-willed and matter-of-fact. I worked hard to find my voice, and by the time they met me at the young age of 20, they were getting a very raw young woman who wasn’t going to let anyone put Angela in a corner.

Ok, so I was adamant about not allowing my children to spend the night with anyone until they could talk. I didn’t want them to be anywhere, and something happen, and they cannot express their pain to me. Unfortunately, I was in that position as a child, and a family friend took advantage of me. So I would be, as my dad says, “John Brown” before I put my kids in that position.

So, here we are, and my son is ready to spend the night with family for the first time, and the Holy Spirit told me, “NO!” I trusted that, and it panned out to be a good thing. Thank you Jesus. it wasn’t an abusive situation, just not good for Nicholas at his age.

When I got the negative response I got from my family, I knew I was on the right track.

Healthy people will understand your position and not gaslight you to give in to their wants. A healthy person will understand and be willing to walk in line with your convictions no matter how inconvenient.

I needed the Holy Spirit to teach me in a very small moment then so that I could respond quickly when my oldest was being bullied at school and I needed to pull him out to homeschool him.

This is how God works. Since our God is all knowing, He sees the intent in the hearts of all men. We should trust His leading. HE especially wants the next generation to be safe.

I pray that you learn to trust the Lord and surround yourself with women who will encourage you in this walk of motherhood. If you have no one now, I pray that the Holy Spirit sends you a beautiful tribe of women that lifts you up and comes along side you through this stage in life.

I also pray that you will take time to enjoy each and every stage in your life as a mom and in the lives of your children. You are beautifully made to be their mom.

Finally, don’t ever question God’s beautiful plan for your life. God is good. And He works everything out for those who diligently seek Him, not who have a perfect life 🙂

Love you all, be blessed.

I am all the more grateful for the women (like Angela) who have chosen to join me on this journey of transparency. I can’t thank you enough.

For the Moms is an annual written blog series which aims to ignite and connect Godly Women in various stages of Motherhood toward the revelation of their Divinely given assignment and their impact as the gatekeepers of the home. 

The purpose and mission is to elevate Christ and conceptualize Godly character in Motherhood – and to reach down and pull up those Mothers who are just starting, who are understandably worn, or who have somehow lost their way. 

Further, For the Moms is a movement that is calling to attention the warriors within us for the times in which we live. We will aim to unravel the mistakes and cycles of generations past. We will wage war for our families. And, we will diligently seek the Lord’s face concerning His will for our children, and who we are becoming through our Motherhood. 

My prayer is that the women who lay eyes on the For the Moms Series, will be encouraged, emboldened, and all the more hopeful. I sure am.

For the Moms,

Hannah