” Direct your children onto the right path; and when they are older, they will not leave it. ” Proverbs 22: 6

As a mother of 2 special needs children I do face difficulties in child rearing. It’s very easy for us as mothers to not only become critical of ourselves in this area, but to let ourselves become overwhelmed. Our love for our children is so strong sometimes that we let our emotions take over what we should be giving to the Lord.

The past couple of months my oldest son who is high functioning autistic has been having behavioral problems at school. He’s even been starting to say cuss words and things that I was in shock to hear of. My first instinct was to become overwhelmed with fear. My fear that I’m not doing enough, that I should be teaching him better. After all I am a woman of God and my children should be doing the walk of Christ with me. What am I doing wrong, how can I fix this? These are the thoughts that first come into my head. Our sinful loving mothering hearts want to put the blame on ourselves. Instead of blaming we should be realizing that we cannot control what happens to our children outside of our homes at all times. They will hear things that we cannot be responsible for. They will do things that are not perfect and definitely not Christ-like. But don’t we too as parents, women and Christians do the same thing? Do we not constantly make mistakes?

The difference is that we are aware of what we are doing and we know that to change ourselves we bring our worries and troubles to the Lord.

“Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” Proverbs 1:23

Our children do not know this. They need to be led to the Lord, they need our love and direction to know that the Lord will help them in any situation and give them the love and support they need for the world we live in. God has entrusted us to raise these children in His word. That’s all we can do. We follow Him and lead our children in His word and we are doing what God asks of us.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

So I hope you can read this knowing that you are not alone in this guilt we feel as mothers. That you feel more led and encouraged to help your children realize that there’s a Lord that will always be there for them, love them, and forgives all things. If your children are older and already know this then I hope you’re encouraged to continue this leadership in your family. It truly is a gift the Lord has given us to raise up our children in His name.

Is there anything that you struggle with as a mother? Do you too find that you get wrapped up in the world around us and the sin in it? I’d love to hear from you.