The Horrible Rotten No Good Day

Raising children is hard. Some days you just feel like crawling back into bed and hope to wake up the next morning to have a do-over. Days when you spend more time breaking up fights, repeating yourself, getting frustrated, and yes...even yelling at the most precious things that God has entrusted to you. You know that raising your voice won't solve one single problem, but it happens. You end up sitting down at the end of the day exhausted and feeling so discouraged that you wonder why God has given you children in the first place.

"For you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

I had a day like that this week and let me tell you that God doesn't make mistakes. He has given you those precious children because He knows that, with His help, you can raise them better than anyone else.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."                                                                    Isaiah 41:10 

Consider that every wrinkle in your day is a chance to show your children the love of Jesus

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." 

                                                            1 John 4:11-13 

A chance to show them the gospel. Because that's what it's all about after all. Drawing our children closer to the Lord. It's a chance to show them love and grace. Yes, they will do things that drive you absolutely bonkers but it's always an opportunity for them,and you, to grow.

What if....

The last time you kissed your child was a chance to show them Jesus
The last time you hugged them was a chance to show them Jesus
The last time you disciplined them was a chance to show them Jesus
The last time you read them a book was a chance to show them Jesus
The last time you said you were sorry was a chance to show them Jesus

How more often would we be doing those things?
Maybe we could do more responding rather than reacting if we considered these things first.

So the next time you, or I, have a horrible rotten no good day lets try a little harder to bring Jesus into it. Maybe our children will have a better picture of who He is because of it.