Blog - Parent Resources

From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a Mom.  

I started babysitting children at 10 years old, volunteering in the infant nursery at church, and jumping at every opportunity I had to interact with children. Fast forward to June 14th, 2000. My husband and I celebrated the safe arrival of our daughter, Baylea. The emotions that came with that experience were amazing. From her precious head to the tip of her ten perfect toes.  

God had blessed us with a child.  (And eventually two more!)

I remember after my oldest was born, thinking, “Lord, you have blessed us with the most wonderful gift,” and the Bible verse Psalm 139:13-14 immediately came to mind. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

As the emotions of the moment flooded my heart, I also felt fear. I’m holding a tiny child in my arms. She is mine and you gifted her to us. Now what!?! I can feed her and take care of her needs now, but what on earth do I know about parenting? What do I do when there are questions I don’t know how to answer? Who do I go to for advice? What if I do something wrong in raising her?

Now, my husband and I are empty nesters and soon to be grandparents. While there were times over the years I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it or get through another parenting situation, through many tears and loss of sleep, we in fact did. We learned A LOT along the way.  

This past spring, a friend recommended a book, and we decided to read it together. Wow, I wish I had had it years ago. The book is Habits Of The Household by: Justin Whitmel Earley. In one section, he writes about, “Ways New Habits Lead The Heart.” Talk about convicting. Three points he reflects on: 1) My head thinks ….I want to be a patient person with my kids. 2) My head thinks … I want to give my kids my full attention. 3) My head thinks…I want to use moments of discipline to teach my kids, not to just be angry with them.   

While we have good intentions we fail as well. Has your child spilled their milk as they were finishing up breakfast and it went all over them, the chair, the floor, and the dog? 
Mine has. 
How did I react? Hmm… that’s tough. Do we react with yelling, moodiness, or constant negativity?

As I was reading, it reminded me of a situation with my own child. As parents, our patience is tested by our loving children.

When our youngest son was nine, he taught me about compassion and problem solving and gave me an opportunity to show him grace and forgiveness. He was trying to be thoughtful and fill water bottles for his siblings & I as we were taking on a huge yard project, in the heat. He comes back out & says, "Mom, could you please come inside to help me?" I get to the door & he very calmly says, "I accidentally knocked over the spaghetti jar in the fridge as I was pulling out water bottles. I didn't realize the lid wasn't on tight and it spilled all over the floor & fridge. Please forgive me and I am more than happy to help clean up but know I can't do it alone. I didn't want to upset you."

I stood in awe and gently opened the door. He quickly says, "I'm so sorry!"

This Mommy could have seriously lost her patience & come unglued.

What did I do!?! I turned to him and said, "You did the right thing and I'm proud of you!" I then began to laugh and we stood hand in hand laughing at the mess trying to figure out the best course of cleaning it up.

At the end of our mess we cleaned up together, he turned to me and said, "Thank you for keeping calm and not yelling at me."

Would it have done any good for me to lose my cool? Nope! Could I have completely squashed him by being impatient with him? Yes, I could have. I stopped and asked the Lord to give me patience to not do or say something I would regret and create a terrible memory for my child to remember.

We tackled a problem together, and I pray that whatever difficulty my children encounter in life now as adults, that they feel comfortable enough to come to me to talk and figure it out.

My kids are all grown and now being led by a wonderful plan God has for them. Am I done parenting? What does this new phase of life look like? God isn’t done with me.  

My prayer is to be a vessel to come alongside young parents and to be an encouragement to you!

Parents, YOU, yes, YOU, are doing a difficult job God has blessed you with. 
Embrace it. It’s an AMAZING ride!