Moments for Mom: Learning Hard Things

Every day, I am watching my children’s naiveté be stripped away from them, and it’s heart-breaking. They recently had to learn that sometimes people you care about will lie to you. They’ve also seen that not everyone will come clean, even when given the opportunity. My kids are in a long season of learning what not to do, how not to live their lives, and it hurts my heart to watch them have to go through this.

And yet... And yet they are learning lessons that I learned in my twenties, thirties and now forties. Will they have to relearn some of these things over the course of their lifetime? I’m sure they will. But even though I keep hearing myself say that it’s just too much for two teenagers to have to take in, when I let myself, I can rest just a bit.

I can rest because the God of the universe has this.

And you can rest just a bit too. No matter what circumstances are swirling around your children – everything from their first bad grade, to a teacher who doesn’t like them, to bullying, to sexting, to temptations with alcohol and drugs – God promises many, many things that we can hold onto for ourselves through these tumultuous parenting years but also that we can hold onto for our children, and teach them to hold onto themselves.

Things like…

He will protect us in challenging times. (Genesis 28)

He will limit the quantity of pain we will face. (Matthew 12)

He will bring us healing when we are broken. (Jeremiah 30)

He will never abandon us. (Hebrews 13)

He will walk us through our fire. (Isaiah 43)

He hears us and will give us what we need. (Jude 1)

He has given us the Holy Spirit as our counselor and comforter. (Acts 1)

He will give us peace. (John 14)

He has adopted and chosen us as his children. (Ephesians 1)

He will turn all of our difficult times into something beautiful. (Genesis 50, Romans 8)

Yes, our lives are difficult. And yes, no matter how we plot, our children’s lives will be difficult, maybe even starting now. But sweet mothers, we can give our children over to God who loves them even more than we do, and we can teach them how to run to him when they’re hurting or scared. Because he will never leave them, or us.

(c) Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2013

Elisabeth is mom to Sara (16) and Jack (14-1/2). She loves spending time with her kids, her friends, reading and writing. She is the author of At the Corner of Broken & Love: Where God Meets Us in the Everyday; One Girl, Third World: One Woman’s Journey into Social Justice; He Is Just That Into You: Stories of a Faithful God who Pursues, Engages, and Has No Fear of Commitment; In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart; and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul. All these books can be purchased on Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.

Her upcoming book, Unraveling, is releasing with Abingdon Press in October 2013.

Visit her website and her blog. You can follow her on Twitter at ekcorcoran or friend her on Facebook.

If you are in a difficult marriage or find yourself going through a difficult divorce, I have created two private groups on Facebook that I would like to invite you to. Simply email me at elisabethkcorcoran@gmail.com, let me know if you're interested in the married group or separated/divorced group, then send me a friend request on Facebook. If you're in need of some encouragement, I invite you to join us.

Elisabeth is a proud Member of Redbud Writer's Guild

Publication date: March 7, 2013