Tips on Raising the Children God Has Given YouSample

I’ve been asked one question numerous times: “Is there anything you would have done differently in parenting your sons?” “There are only two things I would change,” I’ve answered. “I would have been the perfect mother, and I would have had two perfect children.” And then I laughed!

Elisabeth Elliot wrote, “The process of shaping the child . . . also shapes the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.” [1] 

I want you to know that some of the mommy fails in your life will someday be turned from tears into laughter. Nobody is perfect! Mom, be encouraged. Your children are not perfect, and neither are you. There is one thing I know I did right: I believed that the Lord could and would do what He had promised.

Believe me when I say there were many times when I felt  God had given my wonderful boys the wrong mom.

When my children were young, Hank and I attended a banquet to honor the homeschool mom of the year. I listened as they began the introduction of this incredible woman. She had ten children and had homeschooled them all while earning her master’s and doctorate degrees. Three of her children were grown—two were doctors, and the other was a lawyer. Her family had built their own house. And, oh yes, she’d also taught each child to play a musical instrument! By the time they gave her the award, I just wanted to run out of the room crying because I knew I couldn’t do what she had done. I had to remind myself that I only had to homeschool the two children God had given me.

Just remember this: God did not give you the wrong children, and He has not given them the wrong mother. When I felt like I wasn’t the right mom for my kids, it was so that God could teach me that when I am weak, He is strong. He wants to protect us from becoming puffed up with pride. As Corrie ten Boom once said, “It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.” [2] And as God says, “My grace (favor, loving-kindness, and mercy) is enough; My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, AMPC).

Remind yourself that you don’t have to be a supermom because you have a super God.

References:

1. Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family (Ada, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2005), 99

2. “Corrie ten Boom > Quotes,” Goodreads, Accessed November 18, 2019, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/102203.Corrie_ten_Boom