When Worry Gets in the Way of Love

Sometimes life can feel very overwhelming. Parenting is not always easy. There are so many concerns and worries.

 It starts very early:

 Do I have enough milk for my baby?

When will my child sleep through the night?

Will she ever wean?

How long will it be before she’s out of nappies?

 Then when a child gets to school age it gets worse, especially if we decide to homeschool:

Will my child learn to read?

Will she ever learn to write?

Will she become addicted to computer games?

Will she learn everything she needs to know?

Sometimes we wonder if we should pass all that worry onto someone else and send our children to school. But we battle on. It's our duty.

 Even when a child is almost grown, the worries do not stop:

Will she get into university?

Will she get a job?

Will she ever leave home and be able to look after herself?

Will she find someone suitable to marry?

Will she always love her faith?

 The concerns are endless.

 Do our kids know how much we worry?

 If we don’t talk about our concerns directly to our children, they might hear us mulling them over with our husbands or other mothers. Even if we never say a word, they can still pick up on our moods and attitudes.  And I wonder how that makes our children feel.

 We might assume they feel loved knowing we worry about them all the time. We wouldn’t worry if we didn’t care, would we?

 But recently, I had another thought. What if my children came to the conclusion that all these concerns were making me unhappy? Instead of feeling loved, they might feel they were just a problem to me.

 Mothering should be a pleasure. Life should be joyful. And our children should feel enjoyed and loved. But unfortunately so many concerns get in the way.

 I am tucking my youngest girls into bed.

 “I really enjoyed spending time with you today!” I say.

 The girls’ eyes glow with happiness.

 "I love you, Mum,” they both say as they wrap their arms about me.

 “I love you too, “I reply. “I love being your mother.”

 I turn off the light. It’s the end of another joy-filled day, a day in which I refuse to be anxious.

 My children will get where they are meant to go because God will take care of that. All I have to do is focus on this present moment. I can't worry, even though I'm tempted to at times, because I want to enjoy my children, make sure they feel enjoyed and...

 I want nothing to get in the way of love.