Am I Good Enough?

Happy, un-worried crocus from Grandma's yard.

Today was definitely not a pretty parenting day. It was a day to try my soul like no other, starting from the starting gun of the alarm clock.

I honestly struggle many times with the question of whether I'm failing as a parent, yet I know full well that God gave these specific children, with their specific temperaments, to Kris and me to raise--and surely to raise us to new levels of character development.

I also believe God knew they needed us, not other people, as parents.

The exhausting part of parenting--at least in the phase we're in now--is having to meet all the challenges to parental authority without giving up. New day, new 350 challenges. Sleep a bit (sort of); start over.

My grandmother provided the encouragement I needed today when I was feeling the worst. Plus, she reminded me of herself and others who have been there, done that as far as parenting goes.

If I could handle everything perfectly well, I wouldn't need help from Jesus. Parenting struggles keep me relying on him for wisdom and strength daily.

No matter what happens in life, our children need to know we're not giving up on them. No challenge, no temper, no sin, nothing is going to make us stop loving them.

Parenting feels like an earthly model of how nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.