1,048,448

Imagine if you could impact that many people.

What you might not realize is that you can.  And you might be even now, without realizing it.

I recently read a book called Beyond Bath Time by Erin Davis (highly, highly recommend this book for all moms - it was so good), and this caught my attention.

"A woman who has two children and whose children each produce two children for ten generations will by the  tenth generation have 1,024 offspring.  But a woman who has four children and whose children each have four children will be the tenth generation have 1,048,448 descendants!" 

(Quote was taken from "Turning the Tide: Having More Children Who Follow Christ" by Holly and Bill Elliff.)

I always considered motherhood a calling and a ministry - that is something that my mom passed on to me.  And I have thought about the big picture of the fact that my work as a mother is not just affecting my children, but their children and everyone else they impact.  But I never really thought about the fact that the number of my own descendants could be that large, and that I have the power to impact them all for good or ill.

I don't think I'm over-stating it.  In most cases parents (particularly mothers, since they are typically the ones spending the most time with the kids) have more of an impact on their children than any other people.  They affect them more deeply than anyone else can.  In countless little ways they affect how their children view the world, how they behave, how they treat others, how they feel about themselves, how they view God.  And those things don't just stop with that child, because that child may grow up and have children of their own and pass down the things they learned from their parents.

For all you moms - don't let anyone tell you that you are wasting your talents or time on motherhood.  You are making more of an impact than you think.  Use your influence wisely - pray for wisdom to give your children a godly worldview, teach them how to be polite, teach them about loving others and treating them kindly, make them feel like a blessing and not a burden, teach them about following Jesus and living to further His Kingdom.  

These seem like small things, but they aren't.  These are the big things.  These are the things that will truly last when you are gone.

Don't short-change yourself or minimize everything you do as mother, as if it's not a worthy use of your gifts.  It is.  You are making a difference.  

You are changing the world.