I never imagined I would be a mother of two BOYS!!! Wow! Boys are so much fun!! I never thought I would be in love with football, boxing, bugs, dirt, science experiments and all the other amazing things the boys have brought into my life.
Parenting brings all kinds of joys and challenges. We are all in this race to be sure that we don’t mess it up and our children are happy and loved. I want my children to first and foremost love God. Everyday I pray for them and for what their future has in store. After becoming a mom I never wanted my children to struggle. I’m sure if you are a parent you can relate to that. Unfortunately, too many parents protect their children from this inevitable event. I have learned we can’t always fix their problems. They have to learn to struggle and persevere.
My first son was born happy and healthy and shortly after birth he began extreme vomiting. We struggled for months to find out what was wrong with him. I cut everything out of my diet. When that didn’t work we tried all kinds of special formula and that didn’t seem to help either. After months of struggling he woke up one morning and it was over. We thought we were in the clear until he was about 18months old. It began with him having diarrhea that lasted for weeks. Again we started with the special doctors and the diet changes and still no luck. Before I was a housewife I owned my own salon and while at work my husband called to tell me that there was blood in Luke’s stool. AHHHH!!!! Of course right to the doctors we went. Long story short he had a Meckels Diverticulum, which is an abnormal growth on the small intestine. After all types of tests, 5 blood transfusions, a 7 hour surgery, and 9 days in the hospital we finally found it and fixed what he had been struggling with since birth.
While struggling with his stomach issues we learned that he couldn’t hear. He had a lot of fluid issues and ear issues in general. All of that put him behind with speech and development. He didn’t say anything until he was two. Luke has struggled from the beginning. He is now 8 years old and he still struggles.
Now, our youngest Liam……… He is a spit fire! His Irish name sure does fit him!!! Everything comes easy for him. You can explain things to him once and that’s all he needs. He remembers EVERYTHING…Don’t tell Liam anything that you think he’s going to forget because trust me he WON’T!!!
I love both my boys but here’s the thing, Luke’s struggles have made him have to adapt and have taught him that perseverance pays off big time! Liam on the other hand thinks he knows everything and has a tendency to quit or not try because in his mind he already knows everything. I want Liam to have the drive to be better. I want him to never quit. I want him to know that trying and failing is what makes us better people.
Struggles make us who are. As parents we don’t ever want to see our kids struggle but allowing them to struggle doesn’t mean we don’t stand by their side and encourage them to persevere and never give up. Allow your children to fail, allow them to feel disappointment, allow them to struggle. Our job as parents isn’t to keep them from all of that but our job is to show them that through all of that they can be better people and they can come out stronger.
Encourage them, love them, teach them, pray for them.
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..” Hebrews 12:1
