I've had a few titles in my life, but my absolute favorite is mommy, mom, mother. I love everything about being a mom. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for my husband and my three kiddos. If you didn't know, I am the proud mom of three growing adults-teenagers. I love this season despite everyone telling me that it's rough being a parent of a teenager nowadays. I find the opposite to be true. I love witnessing my children grow and evolve. Some days are challenging for sure, but they are always rewarding. I enjoy discussing their personal "glows" and "grows" each day. What they think they did well and what area they perceive requires improvement. It's awesome to hear how they process decisions and how they initiate steps outside of their comfort zone. Over the years, our conversations have expanded in depth and range as they become more aware of themselves and the world around them. I appreciate their desire to mature as an adult but yet remain childlike. People say the days are long, but the years are short. However, I find the days to be short, too, as many activities and schedules steal our time away. My children are growing up fast, mentally, physically, and spiritually, and I would have it no other way.
Right before my son entered 9th grade, the Holy Spirit advised us to gather a tribe of different men who could be part of my son's inner circle. Godly men, my husband and I trusted and confidants my son can go to when he cannot come to us and/or when he may need additional wisdom. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are always a wealth of information and will always be a support system for him, but so are the people in his inner circle. For example, a couple of years ago, there was an incident when my husband and I were arguing pretty badly. It was not our proudest moment. Unfortunately, the argument was not behind closed doors but in front of our kids to see and hear. When my husband and I couldn't hold our tongues of frustration or anger, my oldest son quickly turned to his inner circle of powerful prayer partners. He requested their prayers of peace and reconciliation over us. As embarrassing and humbling as it was, I'm so thankful he did it. My husband and I probably resolved the issues sooner than later because of their intercession. I wish we were acting and doing a practice run, so my son knew what to do in an emergency, but it wasn't. It was a raw moment our children witnessed and will probably remember for a long time. We apologized and asked our kids for their forgiveness for our failure. We also discussed what we perceived to be the root of the issue and how we planned to aggressively pull at the root level so that the issues never materialized again.
There are really no words that can adequately describe our appreciation for the gift of an extended family as well as the circle of godly men and women (for my daughter to turn to) my children can walk to and even run to. To launch History Makers into the world today, you can't be a lone ranger parent.
If your children do not happen to have other godly men and women to turn to besides you, I humbly suggest you start searching for them now. It really does take a village to raise up World Changers. Trust me; you will thank me later.
Another suggestion is to buy, Everyday I pray for my teenager, by Eastman Curtis. A sweet and lovely friend used this book to pray for her children and now applies it when praying for her grandchildren. She kindly blessed me with a copy, so now I wield it daily as my weapon to pray for my kids, my nieces, nephews, and other teens I know. It has prayers and scripture verses for many of the topics our kids may go through.
I am charging into parenting offensively and defensively. We, as parents, need to storm into this role proactively with prayer because if we don't, someone or something else will.
"Therefore confess your sin to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." -James 5:16 -NIV
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