Parenting

The other day I had the pleasure of holding a tiny little baby girl wrapped tightly in pink.  I enjoyed holding her, cuddling her close to me and looking at her tiny face and all her little features.  Of course the moment caught some emotions and memories for me.  I do have children after all.  I traveled back in time remembering how each of them were brought into this world.  I do miss those stages when they were so small but I quickly remind myself how quickly they grow and change.

As a parent I have traveled through all the stages so far with my children from being infants to an 8 year old, an almost tween and the begining of the teenage years.   Each stage has offered its fair share of blessings and challenges but I've survived them all and have enjoyed them all too.  But lately I find myself asking "Did I sign up for this? or "Can I skip this part....?"

I have just recently felt like a failure and have wondered where did I go wrong. Why and how did this happen etc. I have learned recently that through my children's mistakes or bad choices I can learn from them too.  I know that we are all sinners and we all do things that are wrong or make bad choices.  I have had my fair share of them but my children will too.  They will do wrong.  They will make mistakes and choice poorly. But as a parent that is trying to raise them through God I'm finding myself so unprepared at times.  I realize that is probably how it should be because I'm learning and growing too and I'm not to have all the answers.  I'm to lean on God and teach my kids how to lean on Him also.

I had a reminder of how children will do wrong thrown out at me and the child isn't the only one to learn a lesson this time around.  But most importantly I saw how I could respond to the situation with truth and love.  Inside I was a mess trying to deal with the shock of the situation but I couldn't help but show the child how much I still loved them and always would.  I may not like the action or the words but would always love them.  I was able to respond out of love and the results were much better than if they were done in anger or anything else.

This parenting thing is a blessing and a challenge but without the Lord in my life I'd probably go crazy!