Going the Distance ~ Part Two

I’ve heard it said the the years go fast but the days go slow in parenting. Today is one of those days. Dealing with my four year old today has been a challenge. A test of my patience. It’s only fourteen more years right?

Well, no doubt those years will fly by. There is also no doubt in my mind that I am in this for the long haul and ready to go the distance. But between dealing with a demanding preschooler, an energetic kindergartner, and the tweens that are testing limits and fighting it’s easy to feel like there is not much hope in this job.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it or if maybe I could just kind of check out emotionally for the next ten years. But I know that’s not the answer. Even if I’m there physically, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve gone the distance.

We’ve been living here for 13 years. Although it’s not that long in some respects, we’ve also been in this long enough that we are attending weddings of kids we have known since grade school.

Last weekend we went to two such weddings. I love weddings. I especially love weddings of people we know well. The place God has brought these girls is amazing. They were radiantly happy and glowingly beautiful. Their ceremonies reflected their relationship with Jesus. It was a pure joy to be there to celebrate with them.

These brides are girls that we have known for a long time. We have seen them experience ups and downs, bumps and bruises through the years. We saw their relationship with their parents struggle and falter at times. But it all seemed to come full circle when they walked down the aisle on their father’s arms. Secure and in love. With their siblings around them beaming with happiness.

In one family in particular, I think it’s because they have parents that did not quit. They remained faithful to loving their girl. They were in it for the long haul, committed to go the distance no matter what. They prayed, cried, encouraged, exhorted, sometimes threw up their hands but they didn’t give up.

Those days gave me great hope in my job as a mom. I know I have to go the distance because if I don’t, who will? Seeing it come full circle was a great encouragement to me. Something that will help me through the hard times, the boring times, the stressful times.

God is referred to as our Heavenly Father. He went the ultimate distance by sacrificing his son for our sins. He is faithful. As a mom I cannot be perfect. But I hope the ability Jesus gives me to go the distance as a mom will be a reflection of God’s unfailing love for my kids as it obviously has been for these young brides.

I hope that someday as my daughters are walking down the aisle on the arm of their father it will come full circle for us too. We’ll have gone the distance and a new journey in parenting will begin.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25