Abbie Halberstadt > Quotes

“a spiritual grain of salt—especially if that advice is grounded in anything other than Bible truth.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“If we rely on others to reveal our purpose to us, rather than owning the truth of who God says we are in him (forgiven: 1 John 1:9; beloved: Colossians 3:12; precious: Isaiah 43:4; unique: Psalm 139:14), we will continually be chasing external approval, or even permission, to walk in the paths God has clearly laid out for us.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“in a culture in which women clink their wine glasses in celebration each night for “surviving my kids for one more day,” there will be many who oppose a view of motherhood that says that we can do more by Christ’s strength.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“four hours of work after an hour of prayer would accomplish more than five hours without prayer.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“A mother who does not read her Bible on a regular basis is like a ship whose rudder has been ripped from its stern.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“But when our goal is validation rather than Christ, it ultimately pushes us down into the mire of self-focus and, all too often, self-pity.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“The important thing is to make a commitment to the Lord and then to follow his leading—to train ourselves to follow him in this discipline of prioritizing his Word.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“And so, my friends, despite a pendulum that seems to be swinging steadily in the "ew, pass" direction when it comes to children, I say it again: Investment in eternal souls is the worthiest pursuit beyond our primary calling to love God first—is, in fact, a natural outflow of that love for Him. And if the Lord sees fit to grant us eternal souls to shepherd in the form of children here on earth, the only way we will miss out is if we fail to recognize that we will take neither
"me time" nor nicer furniture nor "trips of a lifetime" nor spotless car interiors to heaven with us, but instead only those everlasting souls whom God calls to Himself, at least in part, through our steadfast witness of love and instruction in His ways.”
― Abbie Halberstadt

“Just like he did with the loaves and the fishes, Jesus is faithful to multiply our efforts so that time spent with him is never “wasted” and often amplifies any efforts that follow.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“when we remind our children of all the good things that we already have at home and encourage them to thank God for allowing them to play with the random action figure dude waiting for them in the bathtub, we are instilling habits of self-control and gratitude that when nurtured carefully, blossom into generosity.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“We each have our own loads of primary responsibility to bear, and in the breakdown of household duties, I believe our primary roles should reflect our God-given talents, preferences, and circumstances first. In more cases than not, the result will mirror a traditional male-female dynamic because God has gifted men and women with unique temperaments and strengths that naturally lend themselves to particular tasks. It is far from a universal rule though. Regardless of who “runs point” for any given job, God’s Word calls us to share in the work and support our spouses rather than focus on our burdens alone.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad: The Perspective Shift That Could Completely Change the Way You Mother

“If you already are a mother, then no other profession you can claim during your primary season of mothering can trump that of your job as a mama. Why? Because nothing else has the potential to impact the everlasting souls of the precious humans who have been entrusted to you (and to no one else) as much as the act of worship that is laying aside your other interests to focus on loving your family well.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“One headstrong child depletes you. Two sucks you bone dry.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad Study Guide

“As much as we might feel like a nice quiet drive with snacks is the cure for what ails us (and as much as we might be right to some extent), the reality is that the Lord often takes our struggles and uses them as tools to show us just how desperately we need his strength and grace each day.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“there will be many who resent a perspective of motherhood that chooses to grasp hold of something other than the hard and the loss of “me time”: namely, the abundant gems of joy and fulfillment that glitter amidst the everyday landscape of lunch prep, potty training, and sassy attitudes. Sometimes we just need someone to remind us of what an incredibly rad undertaking this whole motherhood gig really is.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“my desire is for my children to see the value of what Mother Teresa calls doing “small things with great love,” regardless of whether anyone ever notices or pats them on the head for it.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“In ten years, will any of the temporary stress relief you get from fussing about something that seems like a big deal now have been worth the lasting effect of your harsh words about it on your children?”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“the truth is that insisting on doing everything yourself often produces lower quality results than being willing to acknowledge your limits and outsource when possible.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“Motherhood is so much more than feel-good affirmations that there is no wrong way to mother (spoiler alert: There is).”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“It’s worth it—even when it doesn’t feel good—if it makes us more like Jesus.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, You Bet Your Stretch Marks: Finding Beauty and Worth in the Ways Motherhood Marks Our Bodies and Souls

“If God intended for us to draw near to him by consistently denying ourselves the goodness with which he has endowed this world, the we certainly wouldn't have verses like "Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). Jesus would never gave transformed water into the tastiest wine at the wedding. Set would be a clinical act of reproduction instead of a pleasurable and unifying act of intimacy inside marriage. A God who intended us to ignore our most basic needs and desires would never have dreamt up over 2,000 species of jellyfish to dazzle us or painted the sunset with the most delicate hues of peach against backdrops of vivid tangerine. We serve a God who created giraffes with their spindly necks, puzzle-piece-patterned bodies, and ludicrously long tongues and called it good. We serve a God who granted newborn babies the most delicious-smelling heads and dreamed up the idea of juicy, sun-warmed strawberries. We serve a God who rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17) and thought that the world was incomplete without the contribution of musical geniuses like Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven. We do not serve a curmudgeonly or stingy God but a lavish and loving God, one who delights to give us good gifts, starting with his very presence.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“Lord, show me what you have for me and then equip me to do it by your power, even if it’s nothing like I imagined it would be.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“If you contribute to the mess, you contribute to the cleanup.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“He will absolutely give you more than you can handle—of both joy and pain. He might pile on the trouble so heavily you feel you will suffocate beneath its weight (I’ve been there). Conversely”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“Our children are not “something bad or unpleasant we are being subjected to,” to borrow from the above definition of suffering. And yet when we view dealing with their more challenging traits as suffering rather than as a hard-but-good opportunity to grow in Christlikeness, we gravitate toward a Motherhood of Martyrdom—an attitude sure to bleed into the way we treat our families.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad: The Perspective Shift That Could Completely Change the Way You Mother

“When I see “mediocre motherhood” memes about surviving kids by day drinking or by hiding in the closet eating a pack of Oreos while your offspring run wild, I can’t help but wonder if this is the same way this person approaches her “real” job. And I ask myself, “What if I showed up late for work all the time? Dressed inappropriately for the position? Paid lax attention when my coworkers are speaking? Responded rudely when addressed? Complained constantly? Indulged in frequent sarcasm? Belittled my boss?”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“The most unloving thing we can do is watch someone walk down a path of destruction and do nothing to stand in their way.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“Proverbs 16:24 (ESV) says, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” It stands to reason, then, that ungracious words can produce an adverse effect on our well-being. Allowing myself to express my frustrations had enabled my hormones to rage unchecked in my system. But when I made certain words and tones off limits, I began retraining the neural pathways of my brain toward gratitude and positivity—a process that Scripture calls the “renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) and one that secular science is finding more and more support for. I find it fascinating how the Lord has created us as holistic beings. The physical affects the emotional, which can bolster or wreak havoc on the spiritual.”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“a desire to “conduct [themselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel…without being frightened in any way by those who oppose [them]” (Philippians 1:27-28).”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood

“Pennies make our kids smile. Praise makes them beam!”
― Abbie Halberstadt, M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood