"It takes a village to raise a child" has always been one of my most hated quotes. I've seen the village and I don't want them coming near my children. But there is some truth to the quote. We need women who have gone before us to come along side us and offer suggestions, guidance and prayer, lots of prayer. I guess I have been so opposed to the village idea from early on in my motherhood journey. Before I had kids I knew exactly how I would raise my kids and how they would turn out. I was a Nanny after all, how different could it be (hardy har har). After I had little babies I was still resistant to all the advice, much of it was so overwhelming. As my gals have gotten older and I have been able to hear things a little better, hopefully my pride has waned a bit.
Last Tuesday we were blessed to hear from our mentor Mamas. If we should listen to anyone it should most definitely be them, godly women who have been in the trenches. They had many excellent tidbits for training and raising our precious babes.The two that stuck with me and convicted me the most were the advice to cherish our kiddos, and Erin's advice on staying in the Word.
It is so hard to cherish these times. Yet all the Mentor Mamas echoed that we do just that. My motherhood pendulum can swing back and forth daily from feeling head over heels in love with my kids to anger, frustration and planning my escape to Mexico at any moment. But it is so true that it happens so fast. Isn't that the number one thing we hear after we have babies from fellow Mamas...'it will go by so fast.' I have a 9 year old you guys, and she has her nose in a book almost all day and an eye roll at the ready. But those moments that she lets me cuddle her, I take those in. Breathe them in, Mamas breathe in that baby sleeping on your chest. That toddler running towards you with arms up...breathe it all in. It truly is like the blink of an eye.
And the most convicting part of the panel last week was Erin's Pitcher, Cup & Saucer analogy. God is the pitcher pouring into us as we draw near to Him. Only after we have been filled by Him can our overflow spill out onto those around us. Eeekk, knife through the heart. Lately my time alone with God has been pretty dry. Then I went to church on Sunday and the sermon was on parenting. Our Pastor was going over and over again on the importance of our relationship with God and how it affects our parenting. (Okay Lord, I hear ya). And isn't that so true? We can't do this parenting thing alone. Yes, we need advice from Mamas who have gone before us, but most importantly we need the Lord. We need to be seeking Him daily so we can pour out kindness, goodness, patience, self-control and love on our babies.
So yes I fail daily, no one is a perfect person or Mama. But thankfully today is a new day. A day to spend time with God, even if it's just 10 minutes. A day to cherish these babies and show them how much we love them. Breathe it in Mamas, as you hustle and bustle around with your busy day. Stop and take in these moments. Because those are the most important things we will do all day. Talking to God and loving our babies is our most important work.
-Summur
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