I’m sure you’ve had times when your little blessings don’t feel like blessings! At times like that, we don’t really want to hear the reminder about treasuring each moment.
Yet we’ve all been told at one point or another that we should cherish the moments with our little ones. Time flies by, so cherish this time!
Maybe it was your grandma or neighbor or the well-intentioned old lady in the check-out lane, but whoever it was, they always seems to say it at exactly the wrong time.
Cherish this moment right here? The one where one child is begging for a candy bar, another is pulling stuff out of another person’s cart, and the other two are pulling each other’s hair? No thanks.
Thankfully, the Bible doesn’t tell us we have to cherish every single moment of our children’s lives.
What it does say is this:
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Psalm 127:3-5a
Take a deep breath because you do not have to look around at the chaos and think, “Wow, I love every single one of these stressful, chaotic, exhausting moments!”
It’s not about loving every second, it’s about an overall attitude of understanding that our children are a blessing and a gift from the Father.
In the moments we’d love to forget, we can cling to the truth that our babies truly are blessings – even when they don’t feel like it!
1. Remember in the good times.
In the midst of a toddler’s tantrum or a teen’s snide remarks, focusing on training them in righteousness should be the focus. There’s just not enough willpower in the world to both keep your cool during discipline and remember that these very kids are blessings.
That’s what makes it so important to remember during the quiet and peaceful times.
It’s so much easier to call to mind the blessings that they are when they’re playing contentedly or give impromptu hugs followed by an “I love you, Mom!” Take advantage of it being easier during the good times by intentionally taking mental note of it.
Yes, these sweet babies are a gift from the Lord, right now and always.
2. Prepare your heart for the hard times.
Along with remembering during the good times, prepare your heart when it’s peaceful as well. Spend time in the Word regularly and pray over your children every single day.
RELATED: 30 DAYS OF PRAYING BIBLICAL VIRTUES FOR YOUR CHILDREN
Come up with strategies for handling the stressful situations in a way that builds your children up while keeping you sane.
Next time someone pulls out the “cherish these moments” comment, you’ll be ready with, “I may not cherish this moment right here, but I sure do cherish these kids!”
3. Practice thanksgiving.
It’s basically impossible to wallow in the stress and self-pity of parenthood when you constantly have thanksgiving on your tongue. Even if you have to grunt it out through gritted teeth, continually giving thanks will win out over time.
Write out your blessings. Pray them daily. Share them together as a family. Speak them aloud in the midst of the crazy.
Give thanks in all circumstances…
4. Treat them like blessings.
As we practice treating our little blessings like they are actually little blessings, we begin to grasp the truth of it. It’s far too common among moms to drone on about how frustrating, annoying, difficult, horrible our kids are. Sometimes right in front of our kids!
If our kids keep hearing us talk about how burdensome they are, they’ll keep living up to that expectation. If we keep reminding ourselves how burdensome they are, we’ll keep expecting it.
Practice instead what your own mother taught you: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” But even better, choose to say something nice anyway.
Children truly are a blessing, whether they feel like it or not. Remember this truth, thank the Lord for this truth, and cherish them in light of this truth![magicactionbox]
2 Responses
Truly no matter if someone doesn’t understand after that
its up to other visitors that they will help, so here it takes place.
adreamoftrains web hosting company
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was entirely right.
This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!