Partnering with God in Parenting
Being a parent is overwhelming. But we learn to depend on God through the hard and overwhelming moments.
By Sarah Chittenden
A lot of times when people ask how I’m doing, my initial thought is, “overwhelmed!” But, of course, I don’t usually admit that out loud…after all, we’re pressured to believe that if we don’t have it all together, we’re failing. And if you’re a parent (to a child of any age), you can probably relate…at least on some level.
Being a parent is overwhelming. I don’t think there’s any book, class, mentor or podcast that can fully prepare anyone for what the journey of parenthood will bring. Sure, these are all good resources that provide education on becoming a better parent. But life, and every part of parenting, is unpredictable. And that unpredictability is what makes it hard.
If it weren’t, we’d all be experts. We could prevent screaming tantrums, bedtime battles, messes, accidents, arguments, medical bills, disrespectful attitudes, drama and all the other “not-so-fun” parts of raising kids. And yet…that’s not how God designed it. And I actually think it was intentional.
Parenting might look different today than it did 100 years ago. But I think that feeling of being overwhelmed has always existed. Just like so many other areas of our lives, if parenting wasn’t messy, then why would we need God? He wants us to surrender our parenting to Him and trust him fully with our kids…I think that’s why He designed it to be overwhelming.
We can still be good stewards of the resources God has surrounded us with, but if we’re not surrendering every single part of our kids’ lives to Him, I can’t help but believe we’re doing it all wrong. Because in the end, I don’t think God is super worried about our kids throwing a tantrum in line at Hobby Lobby over a stuffed animal so strategically placed at the checkout lane (been there!) or the way our child just entered us into a spontaneous 5K when they decided to run as fast as they could into an open field at the park (also been there). Don’t get me wrong, God sees us on the good days AND the bad days…he cares about both.
But ultimately, I think God uses these feelings to remind us of our dependence on Him. Because one day, our kids will grow up…they might choose a different path and we may no longer have the biggest voice in their lives. But the same God who sees our bedtime battles now is the same God who walks with our kids on that altered path in the future…and all we can do is surrender them to Him.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
• How to Pray for Our Children by Focus on the Family (article)
• Praying the Scriptures for Your Children by Jodie Berndt (book)
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