246. Motherhood Series, Part 2

Three women share powerful stories connecting their motherhood journeys to the biblical account of Hannah, exploring themes of sacrifice, faith, and divine intervention across different life circumstances.

• Prayer as the first response to parental challenges, even for those who don't yet know God
• Hannah's extraordinary sacrifice of giving her only son back to God after years of barrenness 
• A mother's testimony of God closing a false DFS case in 30 days instead of 6 months
• How God works powerfully in the lives of both believers and non-believers
• A premature birth at 31 weeks becoming "for greater glory" by reconciling family relationships
• The legacy of unshakable faith passed from mothers to daughters

Chapters

• 0:00 Calling on God in Times of Need
• 1:46 Hannah's Story of Sacrifice and Faith
• 5:39 Lakeisha's Hospital Experience and DFS Case
• 13:21 Kimmy's Pregnancy Journey at 31 Weeks
• 21:08 Asking God with Kingdom Purpose
• 22:58 Generational Examples of Motherhood

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:22

You're going to always be on your knees, praying for the situation, praying for the child, praying for the protection and, you know, making sure that you stand in alignment with him, and even for those in the world that don't know God, they know to call out to someone to help them in that time of need, even if they just say, oh Lord, but they're not realizing you're calling, he hears you. I thank you, kimmy, for saying that, because that's the thing about it that we don't even realize, even when we say, oh lord, my back hurts.

Speaker 3: 0:56

There you come, amen just for those simple things amen, amen, amen and amen. All right, my second woman. I had to really wrestle with this one, but I love Hannah y'all, because Kimmy touched on prayer and Lakeisha just touched on prayer, so I'm like, ok, ok, it's aligning, it's aligning.

Speaker 3: 1:16

Hannah. Her name means grace, is the mother of Samuel and one of the wives of the Elkanah. So first of all, let's just say she was the first wife, ok. And then Peninnah came in, ok. Well, nobody tells me to be gracious, show favor, pity to show favor, to be gracious. So it just, it just really is repetition. Repetition in the definition of her name. It also says to be shown consideration, to seek favor, to implore favor. She was loathed, right, she was loathed by the other woman who came into the picture after her because she couldn't have no children at that time. But what I love about Hannah Hannah had a disposition of humility, she had a disposition of trust, she had a disposition of faith far beyond her own comprehension and far beyond our own, because when that lady went into the temple and she got on her knees and she prayed and she said, god, if you give me a man child, no razor will come to his head, he won't drink wine and I give him back to you.

Speaker 1: 2:33

I was hoping and praying that she was going to mention him, and the reason why she resonates in my soul is because, like you said, it was her poise, her consistency to stay faithful, no matter what she went to that temple. I'm going to bring my child back to you to be able to take, and I commend her graciously because not only she made her promise and she fulfilled her promise back to the Lord, but she had to stand back and watch him through that process. That's sacrifice, that brings a foretelling of the cross of Jesus, and that's what I saw when I kept reading her story over and over again. I'm like, okay, lord, I see how you're connecting the dots because you know, in the Church of Christ we connect the dots. So I see how we connect the dots because I'm like you're foreshadowing for what is to come, because you have to sit back and give up your only begotten son for us. And so she had to sit back and watch him from afar after he was nourished and he was nursed and had to give him back. And but she fulfilled her promise, no hesitation, like Christ, no, I mean. And she still what she made. I'm sorry, please forgive me if I misquote this. I'm not for sure what cloth that she made every year, but she was able to give um that particular item and that's why I was like, oh my gosh, the sacrifice, the dedication. But I can only imagine her tears going home when you had to leave. Or you saw him in passing and um, and you're just like. That's for me was like it hits home in a lot of ways and I I'm going to share this story.

Speaker 1: 4:28

So what happened to me was with my son was that they said in his meconium he had a bowel movement. When I had it and they couldn't tell. They was like, oh, you're doing drugs. Well, people know me that I don't listen around with anything like that, like that. But they was in the days he had to stay at the hospital. When I was released he still had to stay there four or five more days Now. Eight pounds, three and a half ounces. They told me that, 21 and a half inches long, that he was considered a drug baby. He was considered yes, he was considered, and they had opened up a whole case. On the last day they let me come up there and stay the night and then they went ahead because I still had to come up there every single day to nursing. So still, I had to. So I didn't get the moments, like other mothers, to come and have the baby in the incubator, in the room and being able to touch and feel for those several days. I didn't get that opportunity. They stripped me away from that. The world stripped me away from that. But God and I say but God, because the next turn of events was they.

Speaker 1: 5:38

The hospital had to do their due diligence because it was considered drug related. Dfs was involved. Dfs was involved so soon at the time I was married. They had waited till my husband went down to get the car together and making sure that he had the car seat and all of that. They decided to come into the room where I was at and told me that DFS had been called and that they opened up a child case on me.

Speaker 1: 6:02

I just boohooed and cried because I didn't know, because I don't know the system. I don't know the system. I don't know the world or anything like that. Mind you, I'm 20 years old and my husband's not in the room. I'm in here by myself with these people telling me that you know that we have opened up a case. I don't know what the next step is going to look like if they're going to permanently take my son away from me. I don't know the laws and the legalities of all of that. So I'm on the phone.

Speaker 1: 6:32

First, the guy I'm doing is calling my mother and saying mom, I need you to come up to the hospital because I think they're going to take my baby away from me and I need somebody just in case if they take my child from me, from the system, I need somebody from our home or our family to make sure that he's going to be okay. And then we have to do some adoption plans because I don't know what the legalities of things were, that they were going to take my baby away from me. So she came expeditiously, even before my husband came up to steps and I told him like hey, this is what's happening. You know I don't do drugs, but this is the situation. I don't know if they crossed the door because there was another baby's name with the same last name and similar and all of this.

Speaker 1: 7:19

All I know is that they opened up a DFS case and that I was going home with the situation and that we have now the system in our business and so we start, he and I both start playing the blame game. Who did it? You did it, things of that nature. So it's friction causing within the marriage. And then all I can say is but God.

Speaker 1: 7:43

Because when we got home and DFS came a little later, they looked around the room and they saw all the love because we had bought, started shopping. They said any cases they've had with a crack mother. They didn't have anything. They was on a mattress or they didn't have this. They saw nothing but love, teddy bears, the room was decorated, clothes from zero to two years old. We had everything because of the love that everybody had Donated and put in time and what we worked hard for to be prepared for this child, because we already went through, like I told you, the abortion part, same father. Now we're growing up, we're grown and now here we are and going through this situation was a test for us.

Speaker 1: 8:33

It was supposed to be six months that I had to go through this process of DFS coming to visit my home every month, but God closed it in 30 days at last. And that's why I said but God, because the caseworker saw nothing but love. She saw my family showing up. It was nothing but the love of God. He said I'm going to make this situation where you're going to have not only your child, but I'm going to get the glory, because the glory was that he was able to shut that case down where they thought that they was going to get another. I'm sorry to say that they thought they were going to get another Black mom to be able to have to go through this situation or be classified as a crack mother, and that was not the case.

Speaker 1: 9:19

I was not going to be a statistic and he was on my side. I haven't even came to the Lord yet. I have not been baptized. I had not learned Jesus Because, remember, in my old podcast with you guys, I said I didn't know. I knew God, but I didn't know Jesus. So I hadn't met Jesus yet. I met God and God met me and he told me I'm changing all of this. He tore it up and he said never again. And so I thank God for this particular time to be able to share this part of understanding what true motherhood and what Hannah had to go through, from seeing the far away and how he turned it around. So that's why I said I can relate to her because of my experience.

Speaker 3: 10:59

Amen. That's powerful, sis. Thank you for sharing that, because, again, there are many women who go through stuff. They don't know who to turn to. They don't know you know what to do, and you weren't even in the body yet, right? But God needed you to see his hand, and that's the thing I'm going to say.

Speaker 3: 11:19

This, say this I need us to stop telling people that God doesn't work in the life of non-believers, because if he's trying to get them, he's going to do something to show his hand. Ok, that's God. God will show a non-Christian who he is, just to get their attention, to get into a relationship with him. And that's that account right there that you just shared. Is God letting you know? I did this for you. Now, what are you going to do for me? Are you going to give your life to me? And it is powerful, right, because that's what Hannah displayed and it gave her baby at that time, the only one she had, the only one. She didn't have no other one, but she gave him to God. That's trust, that's faith, that's honor to the Heavenly Father. Go ahead, kimmy.

Speaker 2: 12:29

Honey, oh, sister Lakeisha, my God, I didn't know whether I was going to cry or just shout, because that was my God. And to know that you encountered that outside of God. Right, because for some of us who have been raised in the church and you know you're told trust God, trust God, put your faith in God. God is an on-time God. He don't come when you won't, but he right on time, and all those cliches sound so great until it has to be implemented. But then here it is. You may not have even heard that anymore. I heard that before, rather and to know that you encountered that, my heart shattered and I encountered a similar situation, not so much as them going through the hospital insinuating that you did something wrong during your pregnancy, but for me it was my son being born at 31 weeks and three days, and so, in essence, he was two months early, two pounds, 13 ounces at birth. That's my miracle baby and it's just like you said, as a mother. You can definitely tap into Hannah's emotions, because for me it was praying nonstop, just like Hannah, praying to the point that he thought that she was drunken, and I prayed, and I prayed and I kept asking God, god, just give me 37 weeks. God, give me 37 weeks. And I don't know what Hannah's prayer was, but I just was praying to God to sustain the life of my baby, and every Sunday, and whether I was pregnant or not, I was in worship. So I think it's such a rich blessing on this call that we have your story, where you encountered it as a mother and you had not come into, you know, that true relationship with God and meeting Christ. But then here I am, I've been raised in the church and I'm there every Sunday and Wednesday and you know, abstaining and keeping myself to you know, to marriage, to have a child and all this good stuff. And then here comes my test. And so I believe that it's a beautiful thing for even our listeners to see that the test will come whether you are in the body or if you're outside, and the truth, the consensus, is that you need God either way. And so for me it was praying and praying, and praying that my baby would make it full turn.

Speaker 2: 15:04

But then I was also uttering, and it was ignorance at first. And I call it ignorance because, like I said, sometimes we want God and we expect God to show up how we tell him to, but he's such a sovereign God that we don't get to make that call. And so he was my first child and I was going to maternal fetal medicine appointments every week. They were monitoring him. My cervix began to prematurely dilate when I was probably about in my fifth month and so, just to speed, you know, fast forward in the midst of my prayer that he would be full term and I was asking for 37 weeks and I everything that I looked in and said 37, I was correlating that to God just giving me a sign.

Speaker 2: 15:51

But then there was something else that my mouth was uttering that I didn't give credence to and I said for greater glory. Every time I walked down those halls and that hospital at the maternal fetal medicine, I kept saying for greater glory. Every time I walked down those halls in that hospital at the maternal fetal medicine, I kept saying for a greater glory. And that's what God held and hinged. My whole pregnancy and everything I went through was for greater glory. And I spoke it out my mouth. But in my heart and in my carnal mind I still wanted God to allow my baby to be 37 weeks and three days. But that's not what happened. And so he was my miracle baby and he was at 31 weeks and three days. I wanted 37. And so God didn't give me what I wanted, but he sure, god, gave me what I needed.

Speaker 2: 16:37

And so I think, and just like you said, in looking at Hannah's story and knowing, and I thought about even the setting that the Bible painted about, you know the wives and the husband, and they were all around and they're eating and everybody just in and they parlay. You know everything is right with them, but she couldn't even eat, and so she still the way and she went before God. And see, I know that as mothers, if we don't know nothing else, we stay before God for our babies and for the cares of our heart. And so I think that Hannah and I'm glad, like you said, that Agni chose Hannah, because as women, even if you're not a mother, you're going to find yourself in a place where you're desiring, you're wanting something of God, and it seems like God has just taken his preciousiring. You're wanting something of God and God, it seems like God has just taken his precious time, but he is so masterful, and I always say that God is an intentional God and so when God moves, he intends to move in that moment and in that season, and it's never just for us, it's never just what we asked God for, because, as I stated out my mouth for greater glory, at that time I was estranged from my dad and when that happened, and if I had my baby full term and I would have just had my little bouncing baby boy. But that's not what God intended.

Speaker 2: 17:59

And see, my lips said for greater glory. So what did God do? God used that pregnancy that turned high risk, that I kept saying and trying to forge as much faith as I could to believe and trust that I wanted him full term. But God said no, because you got some broken pieces that you need to fix. And so God mended my relationship with my dad. My dad was sleeping in the hospital with me and so here it comes they took him by emergency C-section and honey who was in that OR room with me? None other than my daddy and Abba father. And so I praise God for Hannah's story and I praise God for even my story and your story that we can just touch our listeners. To understand on either side, you need God.

Speaker 3: 18:45

What I love about Hannah's story is this Whatever we ask God for, are we asking him for it for our pleasures or are we asking him for it for his will? At that time, no one, god was not speaking to anyone. God was silent around that time. The prophets whoever was there them judges because they was doing everything that felt good in their sight. So God said well, since I want to do what's in y'all's sight, I ain't talking, no more. And Hannah prayed a prayer Lord, if you bless me with a son, I will give him back to you. And when God calls him, that's the first time God spoke. Y'all that blew my mind because I'm like that hasn't been silent, they haven't been hearing from him.

Speaker 3: 19:39

But here it is, this little boy who's sleeping in the same room with the ark. Here's God calling Samuel. Samuel. This is a mother that went through hardship with another woman who was literally tormenting her, talking about her, treating her like whatever. You give me a son, god, I give him back to you.

Speaker 3: 20:10

But let me say this to our audience You're praying for something from God. How is it going to benefit the kingdom? Whatever you're asking God for, how is it going to benefit the kingdom of God. Who will benefit from what you're asking God for? What soul will be saved by what you're asking God for? Because Samuel, from the moment God called his name to his death, even though he had some rascal son, served God till his death. So the question remains you're praying, you're asking God who's going to benefit from it? Because when I look at Hannah, a baby, he was used by God for a greater glory. As a matter of fact, he anointed two kings Okay, two kings. He was used by the Lord. So, sisters, question If you can think back in time, what was your greatest example of motherhood? Did you imitate what they did or did you try your best not to repeat their mistake?

Speaker 1: 21:27

I'm going to say yes, it's my mother and my grandma. There were two, because they were both part of my race. I will start with the elder, with my grandmother, because she was the one who introduced me to the body. She exposed me and planted seeds when I was younger, and so then I. That's how I learned about the church of Christ and understanding God, how he plays a role in my life and her raising 14 children 10 girls, 4 boys and my mom being the baby girl. I understood the seed line Because what she instilled in my mom, my mom turned around and was so much like her. I imitated my mom to a certain degree.

Speaker 1: 22:15

Um and so when I even, you know, look back at my mom's life and, um, she'll be 68 this year, and I look at her and I'm like, wow, so much, so many things that I look at that we're alike, but there's so many things that we're different. But a lot of things I imitate the way she moved, because she always told me I'm teaching you these things because one day you're going to be a wife, one day you're going to be a mother, and I want to prepare you for those, even if they were simple things, whether it was washing the dishes, learning how to cook certain meals One day God's going to bless you to be a mother and somebody's wife. So you need to be prepared for these things to come. And again, I'm still praying and hoping, because she's not. She's still open to having her heart break and we do Bible studies together to pray that one day she comes to the Lord. But I'm saying this in the interim is that she set the example and the foundation and also for me to understand true love from, because my mom and dad they grew up, you know, across the street from each other and my mom was with my dad until death.

Speaker 1: 23:32

Do us part. That was the only man she knew and when he passed away in 2018, they were still that's who she was with. That's who she said. I'm not going any further and it goes back to similar to the conversation that we had earlier, but it was the same thing with my grandmother. To go back to that, my grandfather was a slave. He was born in 1900. He died in 1986. And when she died she was born in 1922. So 22 years different apart, but when he died she stayed with that same man until death. Do us part?

Speaker 2: 24:10

So that's where I, who I imitate it's the loyalty in the relationship, the loyalty to my God, to my Jesus mom in some ways mirror Hannah. My mom has a humility about her that confuses me sometimes, to be honest, but she just has that spirit of just give it to God and I'm thankful for that because sometimes that is me right. But I'm not the passive, that's not my personality, that's not my characteristic trait and so and God is still working, praise God. But watching my mother, you know, take care of the home, watching my mother nurture her four children, being that baby of 14, that was kind of almost treated like an outcast but God had it to where she's able to reach back and to help her siblings and help family who needs help, with a very selfless heart. And so I can't say that I took pointers or things like that when I was married and things like that, but my mom has always been a woman of wisdom.

Speaker 2: 25:40

One thing I have seen, even at a young age and it's funny because my dad's company, they own fleet and so at a certain point they would sell the fleet to the immediate family and my mom's faith and just I felt to me her connection with God.

Speaker 2: 25:58

She can truly ask those things that are not so and are not supposed to be so, not supposed to be done, and it's going to manifest. And I know it's nobody but God, and she gives God that glory. And so you know, they were selling that car and my dad was like no, linda, you ain't going to be able to get that car. And mama said God going to give me that car for $5,500. And even he was astonished and just flabbergasted when he came back and told her sure, indeed, they honored that price. And so I've learned so much in that regard as far as a forged faith. But then there are components that I don't repeat, and I think sometimes it's even where I don't want to repeat it, but then I find myself because it's almost kind of innate. So but I am thankful, and I'm grateful for the faith component, because if there is nothing else that she can give me or that she's been that example of, is faith, unmovable, unshakable, undoubting faith to God.