Parenting

Parenting is hard work. I don’t know if anything truly prepares you for all the challenges you are faced with along the way. We all try to not repeat the mistakes our parent’s made, but still end up making mistakes of our own and then we hear our kids make the vow that they won’t do the same thing when they become parents!
Every parent has hopes and dreams for their kids. Some parents try to cram the undeveloped dreams that they had for themselves – down their child’s throat and expect them to become what THEY wanted to become, when the child has no desire to follow that path. That so often ends up in disaster. The parent is angry with the child, and the child is frustrated beyond frustration because they haven’t met their parent’s approval on something they didn’t want to do in the first place!
There are parents who spend hours on their knees praying that God will allow their child to grow and mature amidst the mistakes they make along the way, hoping their child will be able to see beyond their mistakes and will instead, see the heart of the parent.
The love of a parent can be so strong that they themselves are incapable of describing the depth of their love for their child/children. There is a fine line between being supportive and caring, to being overpowering and suffocating. We all need wisdom in this role of parenting. It’s so easy to want to smother our kids with the knowledge we have gained through the years (by the mistakes we have made), and not allow them to bump and fall and lay flat on their back for a while, and then get up and press on towards maturity. We want to erase that step of hardship for them and take away the opportunity of gigantic growth because of the experiences they are encountering at the time.
I disappointed my parents greatly by unwise choices I made, and I felt that their love for me changed as I changed. I pray wholeheartedly that my love for my kids will always stay as strong for them now, as it was while I was carrying them through pregnancy and when they were born and throughout the years; regardless of choices they make along the way. I pray that my kids will NEVER doubt the depth of my love for each one of them. I am so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with these wonderful gifts that I have the opportunity and privilege of calling my beloved children!