Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of Billy Graham and daughter of Franklin Graham, is never more than a few breaths away from praising God.
And the topic of motherhood is no exception. Cissie has perspective, thanks to strong Christian witness in her family combined with traveling the world doing humanitarian work. She’s thankful that her parents and grandparents kept God’s Word alive in her upbringing, and she’s also filled with gratitude that she’ll likely deliver her second child this summer in the comfort of an American hospital unlike so many women across the globe.
Listen to a Podcast from Cissie Graham Lynch on Honoring the Women in Her Life
She’s thankful, but beyond appreciative, she’s motivated. Her goal is to make sure her children understand God’s goodness and count their blessings.
During a recent conversation, Cissie shared quite a few tidbits on mothering that she learned from grandmother Ruth Bell Graham, mom Jane or just in the last two years raising daughter Margaret.
Here are five of them:
Study God’s Word. Even in her later years, Ruth Bell Graham was constantly studying God’s Word. Cissie remembers her grandmother printing off Scripture and keeping it in her notebook, sometimes at 150-point font so she could read it. But it was there, available and the backbone of her grandmother’s daily life.
Cissie saw how valuable God’s Word was to her mom, too, and she’s keeping the tradition alive—whether that means leaving her morning devotional open so her daughter can see God’s Word or decorating the walls of their new Florida home with Scripture. “When I was growing up in my home, God’s Word was always seen and spoken of,” Cissie said. “It was spoken, it was active, and it was real. As a parent, that is something so important to me that Margaret sees me reading His Word.”
Keep Life Fun. It’s well known that Ruth Bell Graham had a sense of humor. Her grandchildren weren’t exempt from her good-natured shenanigans, either. Whether she was conducting a scavenger hunt or surprising the children with charms baked into cakes, “she made life fun,” Cissie said.
“She took God’s Word seriously enough to teach her children the most amazing love story of all. She feared God, and you saw that, but the sense of humor she had was always contagious.”
Praise God. Always. Cissie never takes it for granted the blessings she has, particularly when she considers the plight of mothers internationally. “It’s so easy for us as moms to complain, but I think it’s important that we praise God,” Cissie said. “I might have burnt the bread, but Lord, thank you I have bread to give my children. … My kids might be crazy today, but thank You for allowing me to have children.”
Trust the Lord. But do your part. That means staying in the Word and exposing your children to your life of faith as mentioned above, but it also means staying consistent, something Cissie learned from her mother. Jane Graham’s yes always meant yes, and her no always meant no. That consistency helped Cissie take God’s Word seriously in the long run.
“As a mom, we can say these are scary times to raise our children in, whether you’re on Facebook or reading different articles or watching the news, it can seem like maybe as Christian parents we’re losing a battle every day,” Cissie said. But she thinks of Psalm 128:3, which states, “your children will be like olive shoots around your table” (NIV).
“There is such a short window until these olive shoots are on their own,” Cissie added. “We as parents have a good 16 years of time to teach our children before they go out on their own, what God’s Word says.”
Receive His Love. Cissie believes God provides little nuggets of encouragement for mothers through the life of a child. For instance, just hearing your child say, ‘I love you.’ That can be a huge boost after a day of constant battling. “I think God can reward mothers even in the smallest of things that might not seem so big,” Cissie said. One of these moments, Cissie recalled happened when she and Margaret were getting ready to eat a meal, and the two-year-old piped up, “Mama, we gotta pray.” Cissie said, “It’s showing me her heart is learning. Praise God for those things.”
