The Real Mommy War

The Real Mommy War - Parenting Like Hannah
Photo by Ran Zwingenberg

One of my teachers is the only person on the earth who believes I have any potential.” “I wish someone had taken the time to sit down with me and explain what would happen if I got pregnant as a teen.” “I wish I had a Mom and Dad who cared about me.” “I wish my parents had helped me figure out what I was meant to do instead of how I could help them financially.” “I wish my mom would help me figure this stuff out.””I wish adults really understood the truth about what we need.”

I heard these comments from young people in their teens and twenty’s over the last week. My daughter and I had the privilege to drop in on a conference that broke my heart. As I talked with university researchers, business leaders, community activists and educators, I became more and more depressed. (I promise you their insights will scare you to death.) When you boiled down the conference to its essence it was this, “Only a very small handful of people in this country are parenting their children. And many of those who aren’t parenting their children, honestly believe they are wonderful parents.”

It is now the rare parent who is actively and impactfully involved in the lives of his/her children. The result is businesses, schools and non-profits are struggling to find individuals who are “whole” to work for and with them. They have decided in the last few years that they will have to step up and figure out a way to provide children with the parenting they need. The conference doubles in size every year as more and more people realize the impact of the parenting crisis in this country.

This parenting (or rather lack of parenting) crisis runs throughout all economic levels, all races, all belief systems and all geographic areas. It is a crisis that is running rampant in our country and destroying the potential of our young people. The vast majority of our children and teens are having to parent themselves and their peers. The pain in most of our young people is so real you can almost touch it.

For the last twenty years, you can’t turn around without hearing about the “Mommy Wars.” The ‘Mommy War” is the amped up conflict between working moms and stay-at-home moms over who is the “better” mom. I say we abandon this media hyped war and rally around the flag for the real Mommy War.

Who are moms really battling? Satan! I am officially declaring a war of “Moms against Satan!” I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking I have finally gone around that proverbial bend. I assure you Satan is the real enemy of mothers and from what I have witnessed in the last week, he may just have the upper hand at the moment.

My small group ladies Bible study has been studying the weapons of Satan for the last few weeks. The study has really opened my eyes to how Satan is keeping parents from parenting their children. From time to time I will share with you some of his weapons against parents and how we can use the tools God has given us to defeat Satan.

Before we start on that journey (which will still be interrupted with posts on service projects, easy ways to teach your child about God, book reviews and more), I want to challenge you. Take a piece of paper or pull up your note taking app on your smart phone. List the names of each of your children. For the next 48 hours, I want you to interact with your children as you would normally.

As you have time, put a check mark by the name of any child, any time you have an impactful conversation with that child during the 48 hour time period. By impactful, I mean a relatively (at least) deep discussion about God, a Biblical concept, or discussing what is on your child’s heart. Correcting behavior does not count unless it also included a discussion of spiritual and/or heart issues. You can share your results below or keep them private as we develop our battle plan to defeat Satan.

I encourage you to pray about the idea of your war against Satan for your children. Then check back here regularly (or click on the link on the sidebar to have posts sent directly to your email account) and let’s arm ourselves for battle against the real enemy of moms everywhere!

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Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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