From Son Up Til Son Down

There's an old (or maybe not so old) saying that goes like this:

A mother of boys works from son up til son down.

Oh, my! This is SO true! But not just with boys. My 18 month old daughter seems to have just as much energy as my 4 year old son! And it feels like I am CONSTANTLY correcting and disciplining them, from the moment they wake up in the morning, until the point where I put one on the school bus for afternoon preschool, and put the other one down for a nap! Then, when the little guy gets home from school, it starts ALL over again! And it's not just the little ones. I feel as if my voice could go at any given time when all three kids are around. The teenager is in school most of the day, of course, but when they're all around, I feel like I should be wearing black & white stripes (and NOT the kind from the old prison movies!!!). Just call me "ref".

But, this is what we signed up for. When we chose to be parents, which we did, we signed up to be mediator, arbitrator, referee, physician's assistant, cabbie, holder of all small treasures, helper for little hands that aren't quite big enough to do something, launderer, janitor, cook, waiter.

More than that, we signed up to show love, compassion, grace, mercy, humility (oh, is parenting EVER a lesson in humility!!!), and discipline. We promised to care for our children until they were at a point where they would move out and care for themselves and eventually their own families. We promised (through adoption) to not treat our adopted children any different than we do my biological child. We promised God that we would raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Proverbs 29:17 says,
"Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart."

Hebrews 12:5-6 says,
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives."

This is proof that my constant flow of words to my children IS necessary. My constant monitoring of their actions IS necessary. I have seen with my own eyes what it means for a "child left to himself" bringing shame to his mother, as I have seen with my own eyes, that folly is indeed bound up in the heart of a child.

But I also need to remember that God left instructions specific to my own sin,
and my own heart too.

Proverbs 15:1 says,
"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
(OUCH! Convicting!)

Proverbs 16:24 says,
"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."
(Lord, please make my words more gracious each day.)

James 1:19&20 says,
"Know this, my beloved brothers (and sisters...my own words): let every person
quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man
does not produce the righteousness of God."

God is teaching me these lessons through my own children. I don't always like these lessons, but I know that I need them. I am too quick to get angry and say a harsh word, rather than a gracious one. I am slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to get angry.

I pray that God will continue with these lessons for me, just as I have to daily
continue teaching, correcting and reproving my own children.

Mama Bear