Encouraged

Some days when nothing goes as planned, when the boys are fighting with me and each other, when the house is a mess and anything I clean comes apart inside of an hour. When I find yet another broken toy, or another drawing on the wall, or another scraped knee. On the days when I look around and it seems like all of my effort has been for nothing....

On those days I wonder how I will ever manage to reach my goal of raising godly, honorable, responsible, respectful, hardworking young men. On those days it seems like an impossible dream.

But then God sends the encouragement. That radio show with the couple that has raised 3 boys who turned out like I want my boys to turn out. I hear their stories of when their boys were little and I think to myself "you mean its not just MY boys that are like that???" or "You mean even if they are little monsters when they are young they can turn out well in the end???"

And then there is the woman at church that I really respect and she tells me about when her all of her boys were little, and shares a glimpse of what it is like for her now that they are teens and young adults, and again, I feel encouraged.

They won't always be little and into destroying everything that is in their path. They will learn as they grow, eventually some of the lessons I try to teach them will start to sink in.

I have realized too, that its not my job to fully raise them. First the Lord blesses me with them, then He helps me raise them to adulthood and then He takes over and finishes the work Himself! So although it is still a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, He bears much more than I do. And I thank Him for that.

So maybe there is hope after all. Maybe they will turn out well if I keep trusting in Him and looking to Him for my help. If I keep these boys bathed in prayer, and keep on doing my best to teach them what the Lord has taught me, and teach them how to know the Lord for themselves.