Success in Parenting

The summer is really hard for me around here.  Although we had fun at the pool and getting to travel some, I still miss all the activities we are a part of during the school year.  I miss the consistency and the women who are constantly bringing me up and holding me accountable.  

Yesterday, I started a quick book before Bible studies and fall activities started back up. It's in the Women of Faith series and called Managing Your Mood.  Hmm.  The exact thing I need right now.  Maybe some of you can relate?  I think we would all like to assume that once our children outgrow the toddler/preschool stage, there will be no more fits going on in our house, but then something deep inside me laughs at that thought.

So, this morning I was reading and here is what it said.  Geez.  This is SOOOOO true for me, and I am now realizing how sad it is...

And though numerous emotions flit through our hearts every day, one feeling is esteemed more than all the others -- happiness.  We really don't mind what God has planned for us, so long as we are guaranteed happiness in the midst of it.  We want to live happily ever after.  And what keeps us happy?  When things go our way.  When everything runs smoothly in the direction we had hoped it would go, we are able to maintain a pleasant frame of mind.  No bumps.  No interruptions.  No inconveniences.

This speaks to me so much as a parent.  Geez!  The days I view as successful (which I translate currently to a happy day, a day where God was obviously in control of our house and our emotions) are the days where nothing goes wrong.  The schedule runs as planned, the kids don't fight (as much), and there are no challenges.  If things don't go as planned, I often toss that day up as a loss.  "Well, there is always tomorrow, right?"

Hmmm.  No challenges?  No growing?  No testing?  No need to show patience?  No need to display the character of God to my children?

Wow.  I have so much to work on!

Here is to all those bad days -- the days we are about to lose it, the days that are truly from God to provide us the chance to cultivate a heart of Christ in our children.  Those days are really what being a parent is all about!