Encouragement – Page 46 – Parenting Like Hannah

Moving on From Mom Guilt

Our daughter was five years old and having her kindergarten physical, when I requested a flu shot for her. The pediatrician looked at me somewhat condescendingly and informed me my daughter most likely wouldn’t catch it and if she did, it would be a mild case that would build up her immunity. In my gut, I knew he was wrong, but was intimidated enough to obey him. Guess whose child got a horrible case of the flu with after effects that went on for weeks? (Guess whose child has had a flu shot every year since!)

Guilt seems to be a natural part of mothering. We read an article and second guess our selves. Little old ladies are constantly telling us to put the socks and shoes back on our babies before something horrid happens. (Not that I’m bitter or anything, but you try keeping shoes on a baby!) And then there are those times when we really do make mistakes – some of them even rather serious at times.

Guilt can freeze you as a mother. You become afraid to make decisions for fear of making a mistake and suffering more guilt. If your struggle with guilt is severe enough, it can paralyze you to the extent you are incapable of parenting at all.

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Devotionals for Sandwich Moms

Some days I almost forget we are now helping care for my husband’s two elderly parents. We are living our more accustomed life of raising and caring for our daughter, my husband’s job, volunteer commitments and regular chores. And then the phone rings.

Suddenly in the middle of the night, we will have Hospice on one line telling us one thing and the facility on the line telling us something entirely different. Both lines are demanding a decision which we feel totally unprepared to make. Or we are running back and forth all over town because one in-law is in the hospital, the other in their apartment and our daughter has to be somewhere. (And we are the blessed ones because my in-laws can afford to be in a place that gives us both the autonomy and the extra help we all need.)

Meanwhile, our daughter needs our love, attention and help with her life. My husband’s company expects him to carry his weight. And we all know that laundry, dishes, meals and yards don’t take care of themselves. There are some days where all you can do is pray and cry.

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To Women Who Nurture Everyone Around Them

Mother’s Day is supposed to celebrate mothers. The older I get, the more I realize everyone has a little child inside of them wanting to be loved and nurtured by a motherly person. If someone has had a lot of pain in their past, the need is even stronger. I wrote this post some time ago and it remains very popular. Much love to all of the women out there who show God’s love and nurturing to the child in everyone they meet. If you haven’t thought about “mothering” that way, I encourage you to consider it. Any woman can be a mother of the heart to everyone she meets. Happy Mothers Day!

When my daughter started kindergarten, I remember a very long list of people signed up and were almost fighting over becoming the room mothers of her class. I was a little too busy to volunteer to be room mom that year, but expressed surprise to a more experienced Mom whose youngest child was in the class.

“Don’t give it a second thought,” she said. “They will start disappearing next year and by fifth grade the school will be begging you to be room mother.” She was absolutely right. I was the class room mom for the next several years and noticed a huge drop off in parental involvement. Now that my child is a teenager, she knows girls who basically only see their parents a few minutes before bed and maybe a minute or two in the morning.

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Moms and the Future of the Church

Do you ever wonder about Mary? Sometimes, I wonder if she ever had days like I do. You know, when she had just finished sweeping the floor and Jesus and his brothers and sisters came running through the house with muddy feet. Or weeks when her kids passed the same horrid virus back and forth to each other. I am guessing she probably did.

I wonder though if she ever got so tired or frustrated that she forgot for even a minute God had entrusted her and Joseph to raise his son to adulthood. We really have no way of knowing how Mary felt about the important responsibility God gave her (other than very limited references in scripture). I don’t know about Mary, but sometimes, I get just distracted enough by the craziness of family life or my exhaustion to forget God has entrusted me with a part of the future of His Church.

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Finding Parenting Joy

Have you ever seen one of these extreme close-up photos? They usually look really bizarre, but are often an extreme close-up of something mundane. Once you pull back and see what it really is, you often find you have a new appreciation for the entire object.

The Bible makes it clear children are a special blessing from God. Yet, we often get so caught up in their future, we forget to enjoy the present with them. Instead, we find ourselves stressed, frustrated and exhausted. We suddenly realize not only is our joy gone, but we are not even thanking God anymore for the blessing of our children.

How can we remind ourselves of the joyful blessing our children are instead of constantly stressing about their future? Perhaps, we need to find a way to take a look at the extreme close-ups of parenting our kids. Maybe then, we can marvel at our children and find our joy for parenting refreshed.

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