Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ROMANS 5:3-5
If you've been a mom long enough, you’ve said (or yelled 😩🤦🏽♀️) the words “I told you so” or “because Mom said so” to your children. Maybe these aren’t the best "mom responses" to use, but in that moment, it’s all you could come up with because you literally already told them no and they insisted on having a reason why. Or maybe you spoke those words after your child rejected all eight of the real reasons you were giving them as to why they had to do something, but how could they possibly argue with the tried-and-true “because I told you so”?
It’s in these moments when we as moms can sometimes come to our wits’ end. We can take a good lesson from Romans 5, which tells us suffering produces endurance, and that produces character and hope. Whew 😥 what an on time and relevant word!! When we are being pushed beyond our limits, let’s look past the situation at hand and instead look to the lesson God is teaching us.
It’s also good to note that our children are going to have frustrations and setbacks. What do you think would happen if your child got everything they ever wanted, never missed the mark, or never “failed” at anything? They would experience a sense of unrealistic entitlement towards the entire world. Working hard and pushing through situations can build character and hope even for my sweet autistic child. It’s okay for these moments to happen. As hard as it is to accept this thought, we can’t do the work for them; it’s up to them to push through. Sometimes we have to reach deep into our faith roots to remember it will work out in the end for us—and for them.
So the next time your child experiences a shortcoming, no matter their age, take it in stride and with grace. The world isn’t over! Guide them to know what we’re reminded of in Romans 5. As the old saying goes, if you fall off the horse, you gotta get right back on! I often hear the song in my head from the animated film Trolls and sing 🎶 “you can get back up again! 🎶 Poor Poppy went through it to endure the quest ahead but she didn’t give! She just got back up again. This type of endurance and resilience is good to apply to everything and it’s for everybody!
In the same way, if they didn’t make the team, or if they didn’t study hard enough for the exam, character can be built in these and many other moments. We often look to blame others for our child’s shortcomings, but instead of yielding to this temptation, choose to build their character and give them hope for the future. You’ve got this and so do they!
Love,
MichelleRena
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