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Six Stories Every Mom Should Tell

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Six Stories Every Mom Should Tell
I take my seat on the top row of metal bleachers and peer across the football field.

The high school band plays the familiar “Pomp and Circumstance” as the graduates begin their procession. They’re wearing identical caps and gowns, so I strain to find the one I’m here for. The one who made me a mom, eighteen years ago. The one I stayed home with. Every day. Year after year. The one I taught to read. The one I taught to swim. The one I drove to piano lessons and theater rehearsals and youth group.

The one who is about to leave for college. In another state.

On the field below, I notice the way the breeze pulls the green and white balloons in one direction. And that’s how I feel as a mom. Every instinct inside me wants to pull in one direction. I want to preserve each moment and resist this onward march toward the future.

Yet, I also want to embrace this new season the way an artist enjoys a new palette of colors to paint with.

It’s with this curious mixture of joy-for-the-future and nostalgia-for-the-past that I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately. And from this mom-heart-place of looking back and looking ahead, I’ve realized six of the most important stories I want my children to know.

They’re stories that happened when my kids were either too young to remember or perhaps not yet born. They’re stories I’ve taken for granted and assumed my kids already knew. They’re six stories every mom should tell.

 

Six Stories Every Mom Should Tell

 

1. Tell the Story of Their Birth

For Mother’s Day last month, I wrote the birth story of my oldest child. When my daughter read it, she commented on the parts she had never heard before. Her words surprised me. I assumed she knew all those details. So we shared a long chat over herbal mint tea as I told her more about the day she was born.

If you’ve adopted children, tell the story of how God brought them into your lives. Nothing in all creation is more beautiful than an adoption story, for it echoes God’s heart and the way He has adopted us as His children (Ephesians 1:4-5).

2. Tell the Story of How You Picked Their Name

What process did you go through when you chose your child’s name? Did you pick a name that carries part of your family’s history? Did you select a name that reflects a truth or a person in Scripture?

3. Tell a Story that Reflects Their Strengths

From the moment a child is born, parents observe certain characteristics in their kids. In Hebrews 11:23, it says that “Moses’ parents hid him [from Pharoah] for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child.”

What stories can you recall — of your children when they were young — that clearly point to their strengths?

4. Tell the Story of How You Met Jesus

Of all the stories we could tell, this is the most important one. After reading Bible stories together, let’s also tell the story of how we met Jesus. Let’s talk about the way Jesus continues to transform us into His image a little more every day.

5. Tell the Story of How You Met Their Dad

As husband and wife, we live our story every day. We know the events that brought us together. But our kids need to hear this story too. One of the ways we can honor our spouses and express unity as a couple is to celebrate with our kids the story of how we came together.

I understand that not every story comes straight out of a Disney storybook. Many of us have experienced the pain of broken stories. But when we surrender our brokenness to Christ, our lives become stories of redemption and hope.

6. Tell the Story of Your Dreams

When our children are young, it’s hard for them to imagine that we actually once lived before they were born. It’s like the teacher who meets one of her students in the grocery store. The student is surprised to discover that her teacher exists outside the classroom. In the same way, our children might be surprised to learn that we once dreamed of being an astronaut or a veterinarian. Share some of your dreams with your kids — dreams both past and present.

Embracing Each New Season

At the end of the graduation ceremony, the seniors move their tassels from the right side of their caps to the left in a symbolic gesture of completion. If I had a tassel of my own, I’d need to move it too. Because in a way, I’ve also graduated . . . into a new season of motherhood.

I watch as my daughter and her friends toss their white caps into the air, and I breathe another prayer, placing these past eighteen years into the Hands of Him who loves her even more than I do. Then I recall each story I’ve told her, knowing she takes these stories with her, everywhere she goes.

Have you told these stories to your kids?

Have you written any of them down?

TWEET THIS:

Our kids take every story we’ve told them, everywhere they go. <Tweet this!>

I want to embrace this new season the way an artist enjoys a new palette of colors to paint with. <Tweet this!>

 

Comments

    • Yes, I’ve been surprised to see how much my kids love to hear the story of their birth! And the story of how Christ saved me . . . that is a story I’ll never tire of telling. 🙂

  2. Oh my sweet friend this makes me teary-eyed. You write such truth here. I love you…thank you for this post, but also for a listening, sympathetic ear when I need it! Hugs~

    • Mary, you are an inspiration to me. I so admire the way you have loved your son through this season of parenting an “adult child.” I have much to learn from you, my friend.

  3. Denise, this is wonderful 🙂 I would love to write these stories and put them in a photo book for my girl to give her when she graduates..hmmm…I might have to start a new project!

    • A photo book is a wonderful idea! Years ago, I typed up and printed out letters to each of my kids. Then I placed their letters in their baby books. But then I realized that I had more I wanted to write. To leave a record of the ways God has reached me over the years is why I started blogging. 🙂

  5. These are great ideas! I’d love to write them down (of course it would be X 3, since I have three daughters) for my girls, but even if I don’t write them down I need to tell them verbally, just so they know my stories.

    • Either way — written or verbal — I think your daughters will love to hear your stories! Maybe after telling the stories, your girls can draw pictures about them? That might be fun. 🙂

  6. Oh goodness, Denise. You just made me tear up as I am just 3 short years away from this same moment with my oldest daughter. I love this post and your thoughts on what to share with them. Thank you for this!

    • Three years . . . How fun! Those final years of high school are full of joyous experiences, along with lots of mom-heart reflections on how to make the most of that time “at home together.” 🙂 I pray the Lord will guide you as you continue to be intentional about telling more stories and creating more memories together.

  7. I love this post, Denise. My kids love to hear these stories. I’ve told them so many times, they say, “tell me about the part when…” But I should write them down. That would be a lovely gift like Crystal said. Maybe when I finish their baby books. Ahem, my youngest is 4 and my oldest is 12 and they’re still not done…

    • Yes, no matter how many times they’ve heard a story, they always want to hear it again, especially when it’s about them! 🙂 Writing them down too is a beautiful gift.

  9. Love this list, Denise. Sometimes we get so busy “living” with our families that we forget to take time to build the monuments that mark our past. We are going to have the pleasure of having all four of our girls & their families around for the next week, and there’s sure to be a bonfire or two. I’m going to use that as a jumping off point for stories we seldom tell. Thank you!

    • I love your choice of words — “build the monuments.”

      That’s wonderful all four your girls and their families will be close. What a treasure! I pray your time together is filled with cherished story-telling and more memory-making. I’m so thankful for you, Sheila. You are such a blessing.

  10. This is excellent Denise. I have a book called Before You Were Mine to help me tell my son’s story to him before he came to us, but these are so excellent. It doesn’t really need to be prescribed as much as just done! Simply powerful!! [Yay for your first Allume post!]

    • Oh, I love that! “It doesn’t really need to be prescribed as much as just done!”

      Thanks for the book recommendation! I’m always looking for great books. 🙂

  11. Just now reading this and loving every line. Your passionate presence in the now of this season inspires me, and I am praying for you in this tassle-shifted new beginning. It’s going to be a new wonderful, I just know it! With so much love for you and your beautiful wise and uplifting words! xo

  12. Finally able to sit down and enjoy the goodness of this post! So, so wonderfully sweet!

  13. Loving this list! I’ve graduate two children, married one of those off, and am still raising two more. Some of these stories I’ve shared with them, but others I have not. Thank you for giving me some wonderful storytelling ideas.

  14. I pinned this to remind me to go back over these ideas when I (try) to write in my kids’ journals. When my youngest was born, I told lots of stories to the older two that started with “when you were a baby,” to remind them that they had this special time being carried around by Mama everywhere too. They loved it! Now when we get all excited over something the baby/toddler does, the other two might ask, “did I do that when I was 2,” and it’s so fun to have that be part of our family culture. Your ideas are right up my alley, and I’m excited to have more stories to focus on.

    • Danielle, I love that. You’re so right … our family’s stories become a part of our family’s culture. And I love that you’re writing in your kids’ journals. 🙂

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