A 10-week journey to make moms happy first
"Mom First Project" created with 133 mothers over five seasons

"Mom First" is a book born from responding to the questions and concerns of 133 mothers over five seasons.
The reality of new mothers who participated in the Nadulmok Church discipleship training course (The Foundation for Abundant Life for Mothers, Abundant Life Mom) was bitter and complicated.
The author says that she could not just ignore the confusion of women who became mothers without having time to prepare.
Parenting is a difficult task for everyone, and Christians are no different.
However, there are many parenting styles that are incompatible with the Christian faith, and sorting through them is no easy task.
There's a mountain of homework, and there are even a lot of good methods.

It would be strange not to get lost here.
Above all, mothers' sense of doubt reaches its peak when they are overcome by the fear of losing themselves.
"Why am I doing this? Is God watching this helpless, maddening moment?" "Mom First" urges mothers who are losing both themselves and God.
To seek yourself first in God, not in the child.
The mother repeatedly emphasizes that she must meet Him first and become clear about who she is within that relationship.
When you seek God and yourself first, only then will you have a new key to parenting.

I became a mother, like a driver without a navigation system, not knowing where to go or how to get there, and I spent my early years of parenting stumbling around too often.
That's why I often think about what God's heart must be like for mothers who, like me, are going through difficult times.
First of all, I want to support those mothers through this book.
And unlike me, I sincerely hope that you learn and apply the path to becoming a good mother from the beginning of parenting, so that you know from the beginning how and where to go on this incredibly difficult yet enjoyable path.

--- p.24

What you base your foundation on is a matter of choice.
The world is full of things that claim to be essential for raising children well.
Things like that, which make you believe that if you just have that, you can raise your child to be a great person.
It really seems that way, and my ears perk up.
The first training a mother must have in this world is to decide what she will build upon and continue to build upon that foundation.

--- p.32

One of the factors that constantly destroys our self-image is guilt.
Do you constantly feel inadequate, like God is rebuking and chastising you for your mistakes? Isn't this feeling especially intense after yelling at your children or fighting with your spouse? This is a crucial question related to your own identity.
If you often find yourself feeling guilty or self-loathing, you are not seeing yourself through God's eyes.

--- p.93

Do you struggle to form healthy relationships with others or feel lonely? Are you dependent on others and easily disappointed? Or do you constantly feel anxious about money? When you reinterpret yourself in Jesus Christ, what you once considered flaws and stains can be transformed into a deep and beautiful pattern.

--- p.128

The best way for a couple to develop a close friendship is to get to know each other.
This is the same way to have an intimate relationship with God.
The first thing we must do to develop an intimate relationship with God is to know who God is before we think about what God wants us to do and what we should do.
And the more we know God, the more we look upon Him and marvel at Him.
Couples can do the same thing.
Before you think about what your husband should do for you, what you should do for him, or what we should do together, getting to know your husband is the most important way to build an intimate relationship.

--- p.162

When parents think of their children as their own, parenting becomes difficult.
In the old days, grandmothers used to call their grandchildren “my puppy, my baby” because they were so cute.
Even if they don't say it so openly these days, many parents think of their children as their own.
It's easy to think that mothers, in particular, have special rights to their children because they carried them in their wombs for nearly ten months, endured life-threatening labor to give birth, and then sacrificed themselves to care for them.
It is true that parents give birth to and raise children.
But the reason parents do this is not because their children are their own, but because they have been entrusted to them by God.

--- p.207

Love comes from God.
Love for a child does not have to be created by a mother.
Love is known when we look to God.
God loved us unconditionally in and through Jesus Christ.
When you know that love, you can love yourself like that and love those around you like that.
The strength to love your children unconditionally comes from the unconditional love of God that is poured out through Jesus Christ.

--- p.235

Men, but especially women, should consider whether they are following stereotypical gender roles when looking for work.
If the job you're interested in is something women don't usually do, or if it's something women haven't been given the opportunity to do, it's even more important to take the risk of doing it.
God is pleased that we live according to the gifts and talents He has given us, rather than according to the distinction between male and female.

--- p.294