So, let’s face it, there are days when I’m not functioning at my best. Especially at being a momma. This whole parenting gig has been such a challenge…nonstop…every day…all day.
Being a first-time mom, challenges are at every corner—at least that’s what it seems like! And from what I have heard, every age has its challenges. So learning how to raise children seriously takes a village. When I seem to grasp how to handle a situation with my daughter (with wisdom from INCREDIBLE women), new sets of challenges pop up within…
a few hours.
At times, I get distracted by this myriad of challenges, feeling as though I’m putting out fires all day, and making little to no progress. It can lead me to believe that I’m defeated, the time and effort I put in is useless, and that these challenges are still popping up because I’m not doing a good enough job.
If I do a good enough job, I won’t have to do it again. Right? Not necessarily.
I once worked in an office as a receptionist. One of my responsibilities was to take out the trash and clean the dirty dishes. At one point, I became frustrated with this responsibility. It didn’t matter how many times I cleaned the dishes or took out the trash, I had to do it again. Even if I had done an excellent job the day before—I had to do it again. The job was never done.
One moment when I was washing the dishes, God spoke so plainly: “You do your job, not so that you won’t have to do it again. You do it because it needs to be done. See this as an opportunity to fulfill your outlined responsibilities with excellence on a daily basis.”
The same holds true with raising our daughter. Every challenge that arises, I have a choice to make. I can either see it as a sign of defeat—that what I had sown into her previously was a failure—or I can choose to see it as an opportunity to fulfill my responsibilities of sowing into our daughter’s heart.
Parenting is all about inviting God and his truth to rule and reign in your heart and the heart of your child. It is a never-ending process. We are to be consistent in meeting challenges in light of God and his ways. I don’t discipline my daughter and sow into her heart to complete a one-time task. I do it because it needs to be done in that moment and every moment thereafter.
Some days, I wish sowing into our children with discipline was a one-and-done system, but that’s an unrealistic expectation that only leads to frustration. I choose to believe that every challenge is an opportunity for our family to encounter God and his power through discipline, forgiveness and healing.
So I ask, how are you choosing to meet your challenges today?
This post was written by Abbie Kellum. To read more about her, click here.
I’ve been doing this mommy-thing for a little over eight years now, and I’m getting a few things figured out.
Five years ago, after three years of trying, we became pregnant with our sweet miracle Jude. From the very beginning we had complications with the pregnancy. I was always in a constant state of fear. We waited so long for this baby and our hearts ached for him.
The year was 2012, and our son Logan was graduating from high school and moving away to college. I found myself in a bit of a panic, thinking, “Yikes! Have I instilled in him every value I want him to live by?” Well…the answer is hopefully yes but probably not (As a parent, you’re encouraged by that, I’m sure).
Even after being raised as the only girl among brothers, this little lady had some eye-opening learning curves to scale as a young wife to a real-live, flesh-and-blood man and a mother of two rough-and-tumble sons. Oh, I should have been used to the constant wrestling, the competing, the bleeding…the frequent stitches, athletic events, and sheetrock repairs. However, when I found myself yoked together with the love of my life and responsible for managing our active household of little lads whom I absolutely adored, I’m afraid my uber-responsible, controlling side rared up and rather ruled the day.
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