I used to think it was stressful having small children. The bathing, changing, whining, crying, feeding and cleaning up little people’s messes all day would wear me to a frazzle sometimes. I naively would throw myself into bed and think, “when they are older this will be so much easier.”
Have you ever wanted to travel back in time and shake yourself? I would say slap yourself but let’s not get physically aggressive.
On second hand, yes let’s. It’s not that I would full out slap myself but some forceful taps on either side of my cheek would have been in order.
For as your children grow, a transition happens. You trade physical exhaustion for mental exhaustion. Now hear my heart, I’m not trying to pull an Eeyore today and get all down.
Y’all know I love my children with every fiber of my being. I thank God for the incredible honor of having people who call me mom. I dig investing and giving and shepherding these amazing future leaders. And I take it very seriously.
After all they will one day get the privilege of caring for me when I’m old. And, I am going to be a feisty old thing. Can anyone say payback! I laugh when I think about it. But that is a topic for another day.
Back to the shift to mental exhaustion. I am as confident as I can be that I have invested wisely in the nurturing of my children. I haven’t been perfect but then again none of us have. So, I’m not tired from wishing I would have done more. It’s something else.
As the leash of freedom extends with each passing year, I realize how their choices are their own. And I can’t build the security of my identity as a mom on the fragility of young people’s choices. I have to build the security of my identity as a mom on prayer.
So, intertwined in my situational prayers for them I have three fundamental prayers I always try to include:
1. God, make this child one of the most godly people of their generation.
2. God, let them get caught when they make wrong choices.
3. God, save them from the wrong friends and the wrong mate, so they may be saved for the right friends and the right mate.
And then I ask God for the courage to let Him write my kid’s testimonies.
Simple. Necessary. A bit scary sometimes. But so completely comforting. And one of the best remedies to help ease the mental exhaustion all of us mommies feel at times.
What do you pray over your children?
This hit home and I am thankful for friends who encourage me along the way but most importantly for the best friend I could ever have, the one who gives me strength moment by moment, Jesus Christ.
I am mentally and physically exhausted at this time in life and have four children that range from 15 to 6. Most of my exhaustion is from just dealing with life and not letting the Lord have my burdens and not trusting that He will work things out how He wants. I fool myself into believing that I have control over my children but instead should be focusing on teaching and encouraging my children in the Lord. He has an individual plan for each one of them just like He has one for me. As each set of parents have an individual love story; we each have an individual love story with Christ. Some married young and some older , just as some of us came to Christ early and some as we were older. The important thing is to not get caught up into thinking we know what is best for our children and what paths and choices are right for our children other the the path of following Him. We need to teach our children to love Him and follow Him not matter what and let Christ do the rest. What we think and the timing we think might be right for our child may not be His and we have to be willing as parents to let our children grow up and make choices according to what God has for them ALONE. I find this time with our children no matter what the age both challenging and very rewarding. While none of us are perfect, I am so thankful I know the One who is. He has a plan ready for each of us, including parents, who are ready to follow! Our children are not ours but entrusted to us for only a short time…so we should enjoy the time with them while we can!