mom of tiny ones

The Lord has laid upon my heart a passion for moms of tiny ones. A passion to extend grace and patience to those in a turbulent roller coaster of baby, toddler, and preschooler life.

This whole phase starts off with such a jolt the moment you hold your firstborn. You are thrust into the unknowns, physical demands, and emotional ups and downs. I think it's a miracle we have more than just one kid. I'm fairly certain it's because somewhere around 15-18 months they are the cutest things on earth and we think, hey, I could do this again. And it still blows my mind that we can somehow fade the memory of birthing that child into the world.

Then there is the pressure from outside sources. I never experienced this in the way of material items I bought for my kids, but I know others have. My pressure came from discipline. It came from this idea that if I didn't do the "right" thing now, I was doomed. That if I couldn't muster up this perfect plan of discipline, my kids would be lazy, unresponsive, and a menace to society.

One day while praying and asking my many questions the Lord gave me peace. A peace to know that this journey is long and hard and He will give me the skills and creativity to parent in a way that is glorifying to Him and supportive of my children. Am I always successful at this? NO! In fact there are many days I lack patience and love. Days where it takes all that I have to give even an inch of grace to a child that is hurting.

Grace and mercy keep arriving at my doorstep each morning. It's grace for me and comfort that His mercies are new every morning. That even though I told Lily to 'come when I say come' a thousand times yesterday, I may only have to say it 100 today. And that because the Lord has extended grace to me, I get to extend it to her and thus teaching her what it means to be filled with grace for others.

I will say here for those that wonder, I do believe in teaching my children to obey. I think it is key in many areas. But when life is chaotic and the pieces aren't falling into place, I need to remember that grace is there and we can stop, take a breath and start over and I'm not going to be less as a result.

If I had the chance to write this on the billboard of life for moms, I would. I want every mom in their tantrum filled, noisy, physically demanding life to know that there will be moments of respite, that it's okay not to have it altogether, and that we are a group of women and families struggling to figure this whole parenting gig out together. And once we feel like we have our footing, our children will hit another phase and we'll be searching around for someone else who knows exactly how we feel.