I remember the moment that my firstborn came into the world. The day I held my little Charlotte for the first time was the day that I realized how important motherhood really is. God gave my husband and I this sweet gift and it was our responsibility to guide her in the right direction. I’ve never felt so motivated and excited about the future.
I had this idea that we would have a perfect family with a perfect child and I’ll soon begin parenting for the first time.
Now, I would have never said this out loud but it was the lie that Satan was whispering in my ear at the time. When I realized Charlotte was not a perfect baby that just slept and ate all day, it was discouraging.
I immediately felt depressed and insecure about the kind of parent I was. We were prepared for sleepless nights and changing lots of diapers but it was a whole other level of difficulty.
She screamed all night and all day due to reflux and had a really hard time breastfeeding. God really spoke to my heart during this time in my life.
As a new mother that was really struggling, I realized I couldn’t do this on my own. I realized that it’s our job to notice our failures, study The Word, and follow God and His plan for our family.
As Christians, we all have our “life verse” or favorite Bible verse that we think of when life gets hard. I want to share with you my “family verse”. This is a verse that I go to when family life gets hard and it’s also the verse that inspired the name of my blog Parenting With Humility.
How the Inspiration Parenting With Humility Came about
“Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
- Be HUMBLE: It’s hard not to get bitter as a wife and mother when you are constantly doing something for someone else. For example, you are fixing a meal for your family and you sit down to eat. Then, the kids need milk and fruit or help cutting up their food and by the time you can sit down to eat, your food is cold. (Am I the only one that has to reheat a cup of coffee 20 times and finally just gives up and drinks it cold??) It’s easy to think selfish thoughts and become bitter towards your husband because he gets to eat right away. Although, if we want to become better wives and better parents we must humble ourselves and let go of those selfish desires. We must do our tasks with joy and purpose. This article from Biblical Spirituality Press also teaches on Parenting With Humility.
- Be GENTLE: We all know that once a child reaches toddlerhood that it becomes more difficult to have a gentle tone. Sometimes toddlers do something and you just want to give them some tough love. It’s not biblical parenting when our goals are to make our children fearful of us. Using phrases like, “Just wait until your Daddy comes home!” just sends the message that children should obey because they are afraid instead of obeying because it’s the right thing to do. My children are way more likely to do what is right when I correct them with a kind and gentle tone.
- Be PATIENT: I’m often told that I’m a patient person, which just makes me laugh at loud. I think people assume since I am a quiet person then I’m a patient person. Patience is something we all struggle with. We live in a world that says I want it and I want it now! The older my kids get, the harder it is for me not to lose my marbles every now and then. Charlotte will be 4 soon and she has entered the “WHY?” stage. Sometimes I just want to scream those famous words, “Because I said so!”, but she would just keep asking. When I’m patient and answer her question with the attention she desires she goes on her way. I want to show my children that being a mother is fun and enjoyable so that someday they will bless me with many grandchildren. If I lack patience and I’m constantly a grump, my fear is that they will view motherhood as a negative thing. Most importantly though, I want to do what God has called me to do.
