Parents, God Gives Grace

My six year old hates school! Those are her words. She comes home and tells me every day, “Mommy, I hate school.” It breaks my heart. 

She wants to be homeschooled. I’ve tried to do this in the past, but I feel I am not up to the task. I have friends who home school and they make it look fun and easy. It’s just not for me. When I tried, I failed miserably. I had to admit defeat for the sake of my children’s education and my sanity. 

I’ve had some pretty severe mommy guilt over this. Thoughts of being a less than able mother creep up.

Has anyone else felt this way? Do you cringe when you hear of the perfect mom, one who’s able to fix five course meals, do crafts and still keep a clean house? I certainly have allowed myself to hang my head in shame when comparing myself to other seemingly perfect mothers.

This is sometimes the case for fathers as well, I bet. Maybe you are not a good coach. Maybe you are not so good when it comes to communicating and bonding with your kids.

The one thing we should all remember is that God made you the parent of your children for a reason.

I came to the conclusion that perhaps I am not so great with the math, organization or perfect meals, but I am good at the other things. We are all gifted by God with some great strength or skill. I am trying to focus on those and work on the others. 

Sure, my children may not grow up in a super-organized house, but I can make a pretty enviable blanket fort and I am more than willing to get my hands and clothes dirty playing with them. That time is precious even if the chores aren’t always done.

God does not expect us all to thrive in everything. He has made us all unique. If we always focus on what society says is perfect parenting, we’ll lose what God wants us to keep in mind. The beautiful thing is that when you strive to live up to God’s path for you it is impossible to go wrong.

God sees our mistakes, our imperfections and our moments of failure as we do with our children. He sees them with forgiveness and love.

My children are so different from each other. Sage, my oldest, is a girl who loves to write, create and cook. I help her develop these talents because I know this is what makes her happy and it’s where she thrives. She is a little less than a mathematician, but we’re working on it. I help her with her homework, encouraging her instead of chiding her for not getting it at first glance.

If we do not celebrate the things we are naturally good at, we will lose sight of our dreams in favor of dwelling on our weakness.

I read the other day that God does not give us our dreams for no reason. If your child has wanted to be a musician since they first picked up an instrument, the likelihood is that God gifted them with that dream for a purpose.

If you tell your child that his musical talents are a waste of time and he should focus only on the academics that will surely give him a better future, you may be killing a dream in a child that could have been a huge gift, one from God himself.

We are all blessed and we should all celebrate the wonderful parents God allows us to be, individually. Even when we make mistakes, lets remember God gives grace to the humble.