Put three fighting children to bed early.
Child #1: "It's still light outside!"
Me: "You may cry me a river and I will remain unmoved."
Child #2: "I wish I wasn't in this family! I wish I had no family!"
Me: "Get in line."
Child #3: "Oh, so I'm in trouble because ___ messed up MY fort???"
Me: "You are in trouble because you have made me insane. The yelling words coming out of your mouth turned me into a lunatic 20 minutes ago. You have now lost the privilege of being near me."
Child #2: "I don't want to have a good heart anymore! I want to have an evil heart and be angry always and I will LOVE IT AND ENJOY IT!"
Me: "Have that evil heart in your bedroom. Goodbye."
*opens wine*
As I read this post I truly sat on my couch with a giggle and a smile. Then I shared the post stating that this type of post is why I love Jen Hatmaker so much. Jen is a writer who has a blog, several books and has participated in numerous women's events. One of her goals is encouraging women and Moms. What I love most about her is her transparency. She loves to share about her family's life and does not pretty it up.
The above post is so wonderful because I immediately thought of a similar conversation I had with my girls a few days before. I sent them to their rooms because I knew that I needed the break more than they did. Jen's post reminded me that as a Mom I will have good days, bad days and days I want to quit. We all need to be reminded sometimes that we are not alone and parenting is hard.
As a parent there are so many things I want for my girls. I want them to love Jesus. I want them to love each other. I want them to know that life is full of mean people, but you can choose to not let them get you down. I want them to know they can do anything they dream. I want them to know I love them enough to say NO and give them boundaries. I want them to have compassion and a true appreciation for all the Lord gives us. Most of all I want them to have a heart for Jesus and ministry.
Fulfilling my list above is not an easy task and not one I can do on my own. On my own I will fail and I will fail badly. However, with the Lord's help and a whole lot of grace I know that God has great things in store for my girls. It is posts like this one of Jen's that keep me grounded, help me remember that it is OK to take a break, it is OK to cry uncle because your children have made you into a raving lunatic. What Jen did not post but I can see in my mind is the resilience of our children. I can have a horrible day and bedtime be awful but the next morning when my girls get up they are always full of love and smiles for me. Will that always be the case, probably not but for now I use it as a reminder of the grace God gives us each day.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
-Lamentations 3:22-23
I want to encourage each of you Mom or not. There will be days where you will do things right, there will be days we do things wrong and there will be days where we look back and just laugh at ourselves. I want to encourage each of you that each day is a new day, God's grace is unending and there will be times where you just need to take a break and drink some wine.
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