What God Said to Me about Being a Parent

We're a couple of weeks into summer...

and earlier today I had a conversation with a friend who is struggling, this summer in particular, with being a parent. We all wrestle with being a parent for different reasons, at different times and in varying degrees. But she was talking specifically about the difficulty of being with her soon-to-be 7-year-old at home full-time during the school summer break.

My friend doesn't happen to homeschool and for we who do, this at home full-time-ness with our kids is our reality most every day. But whether we're homeschoolers or not, the challenge of being a parent, including the often intense demand it takes on us most every waking moment of every single day, is universal.

I was reminded as we spoke about something I feel God said to me soon after my first baby was born. I didn't actually audibly hear God speak, but what he said in my spirit was clear.

I was in the throes of newborn-land, lacking sleep, wherewithal and, among many other things, energy. I was exhausted and emotional and every minute it seemed felt deeply steeped in survival mode. I remember standing in the kitchen one afternoon, my husband was at work, the baby in the swing. And just when I didn't know how I was going to make it through the rest of the day, here's what, to me, God said: "Thank you for loving my daughter today."

My circumstances didn't change in that moment, but wow, what a big perspective shift. This little one was, and still is, God's. He dreamed my daughter up, his imagination and power and breath allowed her to be. And as trying as being a mom can be, taking care of her, walking alongside her, being entrusted by God to love her... on his behalf... is nothing short of an undeserved, amazing privilege and gift.

And so today, whether, as a parent, you feel you're in the trenches, or even if things aren't going so bad, I believe that God, to you also, would say "thank you for loving my child today."