Where’s The Owner’s Manual

Don’t you sometimes wish that being a parent came with an owner’s manual? I have so many times just wished I could look into a book and it would tell me exactly what I needed to do. Being a parent is one of the hardest things in the world; it tests everything physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If you saw us in mass last night with our youngest I was completely worn down of all four of those things. The whole parenting realm is a big trial and error process and some trials are harder than others. Right now we are experiencing a couple of those trials with our girls now and it has been hard. We have had our days but I will not lose sight of our purpose as their parents.

Expect progress not perfection.

The Better Mom Devotional. Ruth Schwenk. Zondervan, 2018.

Parenting is definitely a constant state of progression because just when you think you have it all figured out something will throw you into a tail spin and you are back to square one. Recently I started a devotional called The Better Mom Devotional by Ruth Schwenk. It has been so good and encouraging for me. Recently we were talking about our middle child, who reminds me a lot of myself; she is a people pleaser and would rather go with the flow than cause an uproar except when she is with her sisters. She is also very easily influenced by others and it scares me. As I got older I know where this path took me and it wasn’t always the greatest. I started to freak out and then I opened this devotional and I knew from the first devotional that this showed up for me at the most perfect time. What I was reading was speaking to me. and I started realizing how I could use what I was reading to speak to my daughter.

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1973,1978,1984,2011 by Biblica, Inc. BibleGateway.com

The best way for me to teach my daughter how to love herself and others is to speak God’s love into her. I struggle with patience and yelling at my kids, and I hate when this happens. There are times I struggle with really listening to them. Parenting is full of teachable moments. When they are constantly yelling Mom all day and fighting with each other it’s hard at times to want to give them your attention. As moms we often set the tone of our home and how we choose to interact with our children and our husband sets the tone for our day. I will admit I am not always the best at setting the best tones but it is something that I want to be better at. When I am wrong I want to show them how to apologize and show them how we work on bettering ourselves. I want to encourage our girls to speak more about the wisdom of God so that we can better apply that to our day to day lives. I want to be more intentional with them about how they bring God’s love into this world because that’s what we are here to do, spread His love and His wisdom to those around us. As it said in Deuteronomy, from the time you wake up until you go to sleep speaking of God in your home should be a consistent thing.

Parenting is hard and there will never be an easy route or detours but you are not in this alone. There are other parents that are out there that can be the perfect companion to help build you up through the trials and be the encouragement you need. I am blessed with some good friends in these areas that feed my soul when I need it most. The most important is God; He is always there and His word is waiting to help nourish your soul. He is always there to listen when you need someone to talk to. His book has a lot of the direction and fulfillment you are searching, you just have to be ready for your heart to receive it. So start now by giving yourself some grace and stop trying to reach a place of perfecting this whole parenting thing and embrace the progress you make, no matter how small. You’ve got this!