Whoever said parenting was easy, lied. Think about it, if parenting were going to be easy it wouldn’t start with something called labour.

Our children are now wonderful young adults but, honestly, there were years that I didn’t think we would ever get through. Those of you with teenagers might understand… the years when kids grumble, slam doors, resist doing what they are asked, talk back and argue with siblings. It was awful and I felt like a complete failure as a mother.

Particularly difficult were those times when we believed we had to say “no”.

When they were younger, it was as though I was afraid to say no. I wanted my children to be happy, I wanted to give them the desires of their heart, but those things were not always what was best at the time. There is no doubt that it would have been easier just to say “yes” but as parents we knew that that would have been the wrong choice. We would remind ourselves that our child’s immediate happiness was not as important as their holiness and full pursuit of God.

“We are not their friends, we are their parents. We are not their friends, we are their parents”, I would say to myself, almost as a mantra.

Gratefully Brian and I have always had each others’ back in parenting decisions, but even still those years were lonely. We wondered, were we the only ones dealing with this? Were our teenagers uniquely difficult? What were we doing wrong? Why isn’t our house peaceful and content like the families on those tv sitcoms?

I would cling to the words the Lord spoke to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9). After the death of Moses, Joshua was the newly appointed leader of the Israelites and God was reassuring Joshua that not only would He guide the way, but that God would be with him!

My fear and uncertainly of parenting were strangely assuaged by these words.

Here is what I always found interesting: when we would make the hard call and say “no”, sure there would be some drama but it never lasted long and life normalcy (whatever that meant living with a teenager) would resume. Almost always I would ask myself, “Why was I so afraid?”

I wonder if our kids demand their way, not to get us to say yes, but to see if we will stick with no.

So as we parent let’s “be strong and courageous”, be reasonable, and (finally) don’t give in and never give up!

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Please join us on Sunday as we continue our sermon series called Parenthood. Though we are speaking about the relationship between parent and child, the biblical truths we will learn can, and will, apply to all of our relationships. So whether you are a parent, want to be a parent, have or had a parent... JOIN US! And as always please bring a friend :)