Momma Doubts

Ethan, aka Monkey Boy

OK - So let me know if this is just me...

Everything is going along just fine.  Hubby is happy, house is clean, clothes are folded (and put away), dinner has been cooked, eaten and cleaned up...  then you look in the backpack.  Your child has told you that he doesn't have homework (and you believed him).  All is well.  You sigh that sigh of contentment that comes with a job well done.

Fast forward to the next afternoon...  You pick up said child at school and find out that your child hasn't been doing his homework.  Strike that - hasn't been doing any work.  At all.  WHAT?!  How long has this been happening??  Apparently for a while because his desk is crammed full of papers he should have been doing but wasn't.  Can I just say it wasn't one of my finer Mommy Moments.  I was ANGRY!!!!  I mean I raised him better than this!!  So...I took a breath and loaded up all the work to take home and go through. 

Hmmm...how is it that he has straight A's, but isn't doing all this work?  I'm confused. 

And on top of that, I watch him get upset with himself because he knows how disappointed I am.  And then the guilt came.  You know that Mommy guilt...The kind that makes you want to cry when you think about how your child is hurting.  That guilt. 

Then Satan speaks up.  He tells me I'm not a good enough mother.  He points out all the other mothers I know who don't yell or spank and their kids are perfect (now, I know they aren't perfect, but this is the devil talking after all!).  He points out all the times I lose my patience and tells me all the ways I am failing as a mother.  This is where, in the past, I would have curled up and cried.  But not now!  Now I know what to do!!  Want to know?  I pray!  Sounds easy, right?  It is!!!

Monkey Boy and I sat down and talked about responsibility, then we prayed that we would remember that everything we do should be done for the glory of God (Colossians 3:17).  I also prayed that Ethan would do better in school and I would have more understanding when instructing him.

Now - the doubts still come but I know how to make them go away.  I AM good enough!  After all... I am a chosen generation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 3:17).  If you have Momma Doubts like me...might I suggest the following book, A Confident Heart, by Renee Swope.  It is fantastic!

 

Love you all!!
Rulissa