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Christian motherhood is a sacred calling, one that unfolds amid the ordinary, demanding, and often noisy moments of family life.
One does not live out Christian motherhood in ideal conditions, but in kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms filled with both beauty and disorder. At its core, Christian motherhood is rooted in one’s relationship with God. Piety, the sincere love for God expressed through trust and obedience, is not something extra that a mother adds to her schedule. To be pious is the foundation on which Christian motherhood rests.
This truth is woven throughout Ashley D. Wille’s personal testimony, My Journey Through the Cross, “a gift from me to Christ’s crowning jewels: Lucy, Alden, Isabella, and Dawson.”
This book, a treatise on faith and devotion, is as much Ashley’s affirmation of her faith as it is a guide, a “lengthy path of stepping stones,” that she leaves her daughters.
Her words reflect the heart of Christian motherhood: passing on a lived faith is not merely having a list of rules or expectations.
The Heart of a Christian Mother
The world often measures motherhood by her external achievements: the children are well-behaved, the home is tidy, the mother is without complaint, etc.
Scripture offers a different picture.
The Christian mother is not someone who is defined by perfection, but by dependence. She is one who understands her limitations and knows she cannot parent well if she is apart from God. Thus, her first responsibility (outside of her children) is not to manage her household flawlessly, but to stay connected to God.
“I knew I could not go another day without finding the answers to life. All alone in my little room, crouched in despair, I cried out beyond this world for the Almighty.”
Where true Christian motherhood begins, there is a surrender to God.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. —James 4:7
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Finding God in the Daily Chaos
Living out Christian motherhood is not easy, especially amid the constant demands of living and parenting.
Ashley’s story reflects the reality that many mothers know intimately well. As a “twenty-four-hour-a-day, on-call mom,” she longed for support, encouragement, and connection, particularly from her husband.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
Yet it was in that unmet need that God taught her to anchor her sense of security in Him rather than in shifting circumstances or relationships.
“I [sat there]… completely transformed. Although I once became nearly incapacitated with disorder, today I am completely okay amidst both tidy and messy surroundings.”
This peace did not come from knowing how to better organize, but in knowing that there is one with whom you can form a deep trust.
“Over the years, through pain and suffering, the Lord has slowly transferred my security in orderly circumstances to security in Him alone.”
This is what piety looks like in real life: holding on to faith in God, whatever may come.
Raising Children for a Life of Faith
Raising children to be faithful and pious includes more than just letting them attend mass and teaching them about the Bible. Children learn most from what they observe, especially how their mother responds to stress, disappointment, and failure.
Ashley came to see that her own unresolved issues severely affected how she parented and engaged with her children. She recognized that her view of God had been shaped by painful experiences from her childhood, admitting, “[she] had subconsciously superimposed early childhood memories of [her] dad onto the heavenly Father.”
For a mother, this kind of self-awareness is crucial because how she understands God will invariably influence how she disciplines, comforts, and loves her children.
When she receives God’s grace personally, she can extend that same grace at home.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
The Sacred Work of the Home
For many women, staying home with their children is a practical decision and a calling. Ashley viewed homeschooling as a way to create the most nurturing and challenging environment for her children, yet she also acknowledged the cost.
Yet, the isolation and daily sacrifices she made only sharpened her faith in God, growing to see her home as a place of refinement.
“This retreat in which I spend most of my time is, in fact, a humongous wheel on which I, His clay, have been plopped to learn my lessons in surrender as the Master Potter shapes me.”
In this light, motherhood is a space where both mother and children are transformed with ordinary moments (the spilled milk, the repeated lessons, the quiet bedtime prayers) quietly becoming evidence of God’s patient work.
Grace-Centered Motherhood
A mother’s greatest influence on her children is her reliance on Christ and her unfettered portrayal of it. Children are not drawn to perfection, but to authenticity. Ashley spent years striving to meet impossible standards, trying to earn holiness through effort.
Over time, God revealed a better way.
“I no longer had to perform to impossible standards… He had freed me from them by fulfilling them for me and placing me into Himself.”
Living in this grace changed how she parented. Thus, fear and control gave way to rest and gratitude and all the rest.
“I now live in the freedom of trusting Him and being thankful in all things.”
A home that is shaped deliberately by grace holds fertile ground for a child’s burgeoning faith.
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A Lasting Legacy
Ashley’s journey echoes a truth that many mothers come to recognize in due time:
“The deepest recesses of [one’s] soul confirm that this was [one’s] life’s purpose all along.”
This is Christian motherhood: a purpose that fills one’s heart and carries them through to God’s embrace.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
If Ashley D. Wille’s honest account of faith, struggle, and grace in family life speaks to you, her book offers encouragement and perspective for the road you are walking. My Journey Through the Cross is available.
