- [Interviewer] How wouldyou describe motherhood?

- I would describemotherhood as one of the

great opportunities that God gives women.

It is a job.

It is a ministry.

It is so much fun.

And it's a way we partnerwith the Lord to see His work.

(soft music)

- There are a lot ofwomen that God has called

into both the workforceand into motherhood

that are wondering, how canI be successful at both?

So I wanted to interviewsome women who are

and are wonderful examplesof how to balance your family

and your job and God's call for your life.

When I first started thinkingabout doing this special

on mothers, obviously mymom was the first woman

who I wanted to interview,because she's raised

five children and itreally is remarkable how

we really do all love theLord and we love each other.

(soft music)

Mom!

- Hello!

- You look so pretty today.

How are you?

- I'm great, how are you?

It's so good to meet with you.

- Take my mask off.

Well Mom, this is very fitting

that we would be in theplace that we always come

to celebrate Mother's Day.

- That's true.

- Talking about how youwere such a wonderful mother

and getting advice onhow to replicate that,

as I raise my own family.

So I wanna talk to youbecause I know you obviously

had five kids.

I would argue most of us turned out

at least somewhat normal (laughs),

- All of you.

- But more importantly,what is really remarkable

as I've gotten older is thatwe all really do love the Lord.

And I think that's something, you know,

you've been in women'sministry for a long time.

People have come to youand asked you for advice

and now I'm raising my own kids.

And I wanna know, how did you do that?

And how did you encourageus to really, you know,

not just go to church onSunday, but to eventually grow

to have our own faith and love for Jesus.

- To me, when I think back on that,

I think my perspectivewas that I was the parent

and I was raising the children,

but I was really in partnershipwith the Lord in that

He was my heavenly Father andhe was your heavenly Father.

And so I really counted on the Lord.

I would ask Him questions.

I would ask Him for insight.

I would ask the Lord to tell me

if my children are doing anything

and I needed to know about it (laughs).

But I really brought theLord in and just prayed

about lots of littlethings in my parenting

that He would help me be better

and be the best parentI could possibly be.

- Yeah.

You know, one thing I'venoticed just in my months

having a baby is I haveall these anxieties

about things that I didn'teven know would concern me.

So, with five kids and I don'tremember you always saying,

no you can't do this, you can't do that.

And you know, you reallygave us a lot of freedom.

I mean, we were going on missions trips

to other countries without you all.

How were you okay with that (laughs)?

- Well, you know, there wasone night and all of you

were on mission trips indifferent parts of the world.

And I woke up and I reallyhad a moment of being

filled with fear, becauseI knew you were in places

and I couldn't get there.

I knew you couldn'treach me if you had to.

I couldn't call you if I needed to.

And I started to really pray,because I was so frightened,

not frightened, but I was afraid for you.

And I felt like the Lordgave me this amazing picture.

And I had, you know, a child in Sri Lanka.

And He just said, "I amwith her in Sri Lanka."

"I am with her in Thailand."

I am with her in Bolivia."

And I went through allthe different places,

because our children werescattered all over the world.

And I knew that God was withyou in every single place.

And that even if I couldn't reach you,

He was there with you andI needed to trust Him.

And just, you know, He'd givenme these wonderful children,

He'd called you to the mission field,

and what a great momentfor each one of you.

And I had to trust Him with you.

- And along those lines,what I always think is funny

when I think about growingup is I thought you guys

were so strict because weweren't allowed to watch MTV.

We weren't allowed to go to parties

where you knew the parents weren't home.

Yet, other parents saw whatyou were letting us do,

like travel with church groups and such,

thinking y'all werethe crazy wild parents.

So how did you navigate,

how did you monitor whatwe were allowed to do

and not and how did you...

- I guess, you know, I mean,things like watching MTV

and things like that,those kinds of things

just sort of went against my spirit.

And so, it was kind oflike the Holy Spirit

just gave me a check on things like that.

But as far as the navigatingthe world with the Lord,

you know, again it goes back to just,

God gave you to me and I hadto trust Him with you (laughs).

I kind of had to give you back.

And He was opening the doors to provide

these great opportunities for all of you.

- One thing, when I thinkabout what you all did

to encourage our faith growing up, for us,

as you know, church wasnon-negotiable on Sunday morning,

whether we wanted to or not,both you and dad were united

on a team in making sure we made it there.

And I remember manytimes I'd have sleepovers

and you would show upat 8:00 a.m. on Sunday,

ready to pick me up and take me to church.

And even with youth groupand with all of that

you really encouraged us to be leaders.

And I was talking about thisrecently with one of my sisters

and how with youth group,a lot of our friends,

that was optional for them.

And I realized, you know,you were gonna make me go

one way or the other, so Icould either recruit my friends

to come with me or be there by myself.

But I think that was, youknow, when I think about things

that you did really well that I'm going

to make sure I'm doing.

- I really credit Dad withthat because, you know,

for Dad church was non-negotiableas he was growing up.

One of the things I loved iswhen you all went to college,

all five of you went to church,

and it was because you missed it.

And I think there wassomething that being raised

in a church like that, itbecame a part of who you were.

And that again, I think thatwas just the work of God.

Having church feed you in a way

that fortified you in your life.

- And your mom, sweet Babby,was just such an inspiration

and such a strong woman of God too.

- She was.

- What kinds of thingsdid you learn from her

that you feel like youincorporated in our family?

- Well I would say, one ofthe things I learned is that

my mother was the mostloving and forgiving person.

And so that she never, ifwe weren't doing something

that she approved of,she still welcomed us.

And one of the things she saidto me when I was a teenager,

she said, "If you ever get in trouble,

"home is where I want you to come first."

"We will always help you."

"We will be here foryou and we will help you

"get out of whatever trouble you're in."

And I was talking to oneof my friends the same age

and telling her that.

And she told me that her parents had said,

"If you get in trouble,don't ever come home."

You know, "we won't help you."

And I realized what a gift it was, again,

my mom was on my team andshe wanted us to succeed.

Both my parents did, Dad and Mom,

and they were gonna doanything they were able to do

to help us succeed andto help us navigate life

in the best way and tonavigate it successfully.

And I just, you know,I think that comradery

and that welcoming love is what I wanted,

that's what I wanted to bring to you.

- Yeah.

Now there's just something Iknow I will not be ready for

is, you know, it's onething for you to get hurt

or you to be sick or whatever,but when it's your child,

I'm gonna lose it.

And you know, as youare very well aware of,

I had, you know, a seasonof a big medical issue

and you were with me everysingle step of the way,

praying for me.

And I would love to knowjust what the Lord taught you

in that, and how, as a parent

God spoke to you and encouraged you

while you were pouringinto me in that season.

- When you're going throughsomething like a medical trial

or those really hard seasons,you don't have a choice.

You don't have a choicewhether you do them

or you don't do them.

You really have a choicewhether you're going to

go through them with theLord or whether you're gonna

run away and rebel.

And I would say, youknow, in those seasons

again I think it goesback to that partnership

with the Lord, you know,with your medical things.

I learned my life lessonin that is I was so angry

with the Lord because I'ma Bible Study teacher.

And I believe in miracles,we talk about miracles.

We pray for miracles and I'dseen God do so many things.

And all of a sudden wehave a medical issue.

And then we are inAtlanta and Atlanta says,

"I can't help you."

I mean, Virginia Beachdoctor sent us to Atlanta

and Atlanta doctor said,"I can't help you."

"You've gotta start in Florida."

So it was such a difficult situation

that we really had to go

to Florida and then back to Atlanta

for you to get the proper care.

And I was angry about thatbecause it just didn't seem

like it should be that way.

And I felt like I hada little temper tantrum

with the Lord, just a little one.

But I was really telling Him how I felt

and how disappointed Iwas that He let me down.

And I felt the Lord sayto me, "Can you trust me?"

And then He said, "I didn't say that."

"I said, will you trust me?"

And those words, "Willyou trust me with Abby?"

"Will you trust methrough this situation?"

They were so penetratingto me because I knew

it was my choice.

I knew, yeah, I can trustyou, but I don't want to,

but the whole issue of will I trust you,

would I be willing to say, okay, Lord,

I trust you with my preciouschild and she's your child too.

And I need you.

And that helped me releasethe pain and move into a place

of trusting God, because He's trustworthy.

You know, again, there'ssome very specific promises

in Psalms that I hadwritten down about you.

And so when things were notgoing as perfectly as I thought,

I knew that God had His handon you and He'd given me

a promise for you and I'd written it down.

And so I had to often go back and say,

remember what you said (laughs).

See this.

And yet, you know, and yet as I look back,

the long picture is thatHe was teaching both of us.

And the promises were for both of us.

They weren't just yours, they were ours.

- One of the biggest thingsthat I hear as I talk

to different parents and,you know, who tell me

they're concerned abouttheir children who are my age

and how they are with the Lord.

And it breaks my heart, but Ialways try and encourage them

because I'm very honestwith them that I was not,

you know, always on the path I am now

and looking like thingswere gonna turn out

so well for me.

So what is yourencouragement to parents who,

you know, are pretty brokenhearted

about where some of theirchildren's faith...?

- In that brokenheartedplace, I would say,

cling to the Lord and ask Him.

Tell Him what your heartbreak is.

Tell Him what your fears are,

tell Him what your worries are,

and ask Him to partner with you.

And just in little incremental ways,

not that He would give you abig, "Thus sayeth the Lord,

"do this and you willhave perfect children."

But I think that it's thatmoment to moment insight,

you know, moment to moment idea.

And I think God gives you great ideas.

And a great idea can come with two words.

And it seems like a little thing,

but it can be life-changingfor you or for your child.

And I would say, just don't give up

and don't stop loving your children.

Bring them onto your teamand be on their team.

You know, I would pray thatif you were doing anything

I needed to know aboutthat you would get caught.

- My least favorite prayer (laughs).

I hate that one.

- You hated that one.

But it was a really good one.

- I always got caught (laughs).

- It was a good prayer andit worked like a charm,

but I just think, you know howamazing that you could pray,

"God, if there's anything I need to know,

"if they're doing anythingthey shouldn't be doing,

"I pray that they get caught."

And the Lord said, "Okay,I can handle that."

And you would.

And I think that He loves youmore than I did, you know,

more than I do.

And He has His best for you.

And so I can, again, trustHim, partner with Him

and count on Him to help mebe the best parent I can be.

- Another thing that I hearyou tell other parents a lot

and you tell us, and this issomething that you were very

intentional about, is younever would let anyone,

there were five of us,and you never would let

anyone label us.

And, you know, you didn'twant of your five kids

for Laura to be the smart one,

or Willis to be the funny one.

And you would always say,you can all be smart,

funny, and you really did notwant anyone to be the rebel.

- Or the brat.

- Yes, or the brat or anything.

And I think that that was so wise.

- You know, that's my mom again,

because when our oldest,Laura, was a brand new baby

and she was three months old.

And I think she cried and fussed.

And I said to my mother, you know,

my mom was in Denver, so I hada long distance phone call.

"Laura is being such a brat today."

And to me, I was thinking, well you know,

I'm so cool 'cause I have a bratty child,

even though she's three months old.

But anyway, my mother said to me,

"Don't ever say that.

"What you say is what you get."

And she said, "Laura mightbe having a hard day."

"So you say, Laura is having a hard day."

"But you never call her a brat."

"You never call her a rebel."

You know, Abby might notlike what I'm saying to her,

but you know, you speak the words of life

and the words of hope andyou speak constructive words

over her, because what happensis if I call a child a brat,

you know, then I think of her like a brat.

And I distance myself from her like that.

But if I think, you know,she's having a hard day,

then I bring her in close and I love her

and love her through that

and love her through the rebellion.

And it's hard to run away

from somebody that youknow really loves you.

And I didn't do everything right, by far.

And I look back and I haveregrets and I've made mistakes.

But again, I feel like Godhelped me get through that

and helped sort of put theband-aids on my mistakes

and heal those wounds sothat the wounds didn't

fester too long.

- And as the recipientfor many of those prayers

for many years, thank you.

I appreciate them and I feel them.

- You know, it's so excitingto see God's hand on your life

and to see how you've responded

and how you've navigated your own life,

but He's led you and you walked with Him.

And that's so gratifying forus 'cause I think parenting

is miraculous and raisingchildren is miraculous.

And I'm so relieved thatthe burden is the Lord's.

The responsibility is theLord's and the credit is His.

That He did a great joband He made us a good team.

- Amen, give me a hug (laughs).

Love you.

- Love you too.

Part of my advice would bepartnering with the Lord

and really bringing Him into every part

of what you're doing as a mother.

Because I just think we don'thave to do it by ourselves.

If we bring the Lordinto what we're doing,

and as we really purposein praying and thinking

about what God has for us as parents,

we're not gonna fail.

- My mom and I talked abouthow difficult it can be

when your child needs help,

especially when it's medical attention.

That is why I wannashare with you the story

of Baby Ruiying in China.

She is just four monthsold and has a cleft lip

and cleft palate, but herfamily is not able to afford

the surgery to fix it.

We wanna raise $1,100 to blessBaby Ruiying and her family

and would love for youto consider donating

to help fund her surgery.

If you wanna help Baby Ruiyingand families like hers,

text BlessRu to 71777

or visit ob.org/surgeries.

Even a small donation can truly go

towards helping change her life.

Thank you and God bless you.