Joy in the Journey of Parenting
It saddens me that how commonly I hear comments which reflect a viewpoint that children are primarily obstacles, trials, challenges, or difficulties to be overcome. When our children are young, we are told by experts how to “survive” the so-called “terrible twos.” And we are warned that before long, once they hit the dreaded teen years, what we will have to “endure” and “negotiate” the troubled waters. And lastly, we are encouraged, that when our children finally turn eighteen, we can breathe a sigh of relief as we kick them out of the house!
Almost never do I hear parents or experts talk about the blessing of children or the joy of raising children. This kind of attitude does not make sense to me. If children are such a difficult obstacle, why have them?
I am not a starry-eyed, stuck in the cloud nine mother who doesn’t understand the difficulties of raising children. I’d be the first to admit that parenting is hard and it takes a lot of patience, endurance, and love. There have been plenty of days I’ve wanted to throw in the towel! Yet while I recognize these challenges, I’m also seeing the joy in the journey of parenting. The Bible, in Psalm 127, tells us — it does not “suggest” to us — that children are a blessing. I see my children as blessings from God and as difficult as they can be to raise, they bring me so much joy and fulfillment.
Let’s not lose sight of such blessings from God when we face challenges along the way. Let’s not merely focus on the trials, but count our blessings. Lastly, we must remember that these children have souls and we have the primary responsibility of shaping their souls. What an immense privilege to be doing something of such incredible eternal lasting value!
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5 Comments so far
Leave a commentAmen Sistah! Go Lois, go Lois, go go go Lois!
Thanks for that reminder Lois. Our attitude has such an impact on the spirit of our family and our relationships with our children. Children are an awesome blessing! : ) Love, Rebecca
Oh my. I am soooo happy to have read this. Mainly because I believe every word of it! You see, I am a fellow Joyful Mommy but I have several friends who are not. And it’s tough for me to even chat about the fun, good, healthy, fulfilling, spiritual (etc) aspect of child rearing because not everyone shares it with me. Many feel I do not know true challenges because I only have one child and she’s a girl. But I’ve trained her to be obedient,I reflect happiness for her to mimick and lean on the Word for instruction. I’m just glad that you are there to share in the Joy of parenting with me.
Before we had kids, my husband and I really didn’t know what we were doing or how we were going to raise her. We were going to send her to school and had a completely different plan on discipline.
Then when she was about 9 months old, we realized that there was so much instruction in the Bible about how to raise kids! So we decided to homeschool and have a more Biblical way of training and discipline. And guess what…she is the happiest girl in the world. We have a fabulous relationship with her and she loves us and God whole heartedly even though she’s “only” six years old.
Not surprisingly, her middle name is Joy. We didn’t even know the joy that would come from raising her or the joy that she would bring us when we decided on that name!
I collect quotes and wisdom from older mothers for encouragement in just what you said–being realistic about the challenges of mothering, while embracing the joys. This is one of my favorites, from an email list I was on over a decade ago:
“Children are the only test of character that you cannot get rid of when you are tired or stressed and go do your own thing. You can take a break from a “ministry” but not from a whole slew of little kids. You are up to bat all the time. You never see the dugout, much less the locker room. But it is way down in the nitty-gritty, knee deep in the nuts and bolts of everyday life, that God makes spiritual giants. Laundry and phonics and recipes are the stuff of greatness.”
– Jill Barrett
What an excellent reminder! I am in constant need of remembering the JOY of being a mother… thank you!
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