When I was a new mother, I thought I knew it all. That right there alone is funny considering I felt myself to be some kind of expert already, just a few months into the life of my first child. HA!! But, it stops being as funny and starts being a little more sad when you consider that I also became quite judgmental of other mothers and felt I was doing a much better job. VERY NOT FUNNY! You can have all the high ideals, read all the "best" books and still if your baby is only 9 months old you haven't fully arrived as a parent. BUT, that was me. I thought I had it figured out. To be honest, I thought I had it figured out when I was pregnant. I saw what others were doing "wrong" and I knew I was a better parent than that... HAHA!! What a silly 27 year old girl I was.
Now, here I sit, 33 years old (WOW) and the mother of almost 4 children (AGAIN, WOW) and I so know that I have nothing figured out. I'm human. I make mistakes. I'm completely imperfect BUT, one thing I do know is that the God who made me the mommy of these 4 amazing children has endless patience with me on this long journey of mothering and that HE has fully equipped me to do this job. I didn't have it all figured out 6 years ago when I got pregnant with Anna and I am no where near having it all figured out now. I've thrown out all the books, I've gotten down on my knees and I've asked God to reveal His will for our children.
BTW, I get a lot of questions on good parenting books...
Dr. Sears... NO
Ezzo... NO
Pearl... NO
Pantley... NO
The Bible... YES!!
It has the answers for parenting. I'm not totally against the books listed above but if you let yourself, you will feel that you have found all the answers in those books and you haven't even scratched the surface of how deep, rich and complete the Bible is for parenting!
I wonder what all I will learn over the next 6 years?
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4 comments:
Over the next 6 yrs....you will change yet even more!!!! I am now 12 yrs and almost 9 children into this and have such a long way to go. Every day is a learning experience. I am nowhere near where I was 12 yrs ago but I know I am nowhere close to where I will be 12 yrs from now. How I love the growing and the stretching. How much better and more enriched my life has become. How painful it has been at times to my selfish mortal flesh but what a journey...what God has been able to change in me in so many ways through the lives of my children and the course of parenting. HOw much more there is to look forward and to anticipate what God will do in our lives...in my own life as I grow through it all.
Great words on this important topic. I've found as we learn to live as a child of our Lord, we develop His heart for our children. However, the ART of mothering is lost in our culture and we can learn simple techniques from those who've gone before us. I've found Elizabeth Elliott to be so helpful! Reading about families in history can disciple us in leading our own.
Debi,
One of the things I loved about the Encourager Conference that you guys did was that you didn't give a specific set of "if you do this technique, this will happen"... you led us to search the Lord's will for our families and truly seek His heart. That really changed my perspective on things. I really felt I was looking for the perfect parenting formula... instead of seeking the Lord and His heart. It has made such a difference in the life of our family.
I so appreciate the influence of your family on ours!
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