My children are the greatest gifts. When they were growing up, I watched over their

every move. I was a working stay at home mom and had the privilege of being there

every waking moment. Every booboo, every tear got a mommy kiss. All the crazy

moments of laughter, I got to be there. I was there at the end of the day when Hank would

walk in the door, ready to pull my hair out! I wouldn’t trade those days for anything.

As I walk through this part of life now, I have regrets that I didn’t have a personal

relationship with Jesus like I have now. To have been faithfully praying for my boys

would have been amazing. Despite this, I know in my heart that they have been trained

up right.

There is a season of my life I am not proud of at all. As a mom I hurt my children in the

worst way a mother could. I have been through the worst amount of guilt and shame. I

have asked them to forgive me and they have done so. After being someone who could

hurt their husband and their children that they professed to love so much, well let’s just

say I can’t imagine not fighting for this family.

Since 2012 I have been walking with God daily, renewing my commitments and

relationship with Him. My passion has been sparked for families. The enemy is out to

kill, steal and destroy the family unit. What are you doing to fight on the front lines for

them? We are on the battle grounds of spiritual warfare. Our duties as parents are to teach

our children the best things in life, the Word, the love of Jesus. We as parents are to bless

our children not discourage them. We sow into our children and watch them grow into

successful adults.

Are there children that stray onto paths that are difficult? Yes, but as the Word says,

Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life. Prov

22:6

We trust the wisdom of God and have faith that they will come back to the training in

their lives.

My hearts desire is to see and teach parents, especially women, to fight for our children.

We need to be prepared for the spiritual battle that is happening in their lives right now.

The pressures our children and young adults are facing are frightful. The realities of

social media are heightening beyond measure. We look around and see our young people

(and older) buried in their phones. What example are we? We need to be communicating

with people. We need face to face communication. We need to get back to family dinners

where NO phones allowed. We need to be involved in their lives, expressing interest.

Our children need our unconditional love just as our Father loves us. When they do

wrong, we love them. Unconditionally!

We as parents need to fight the spiritual fight!! If we are not praying on our knees for our

children, then who is covering them?

It seemed to be a conversation that was needed today.

Recently I was involved with a community ladies night in town. I was the guest storyteller for the evening. I was humbled and honoured to speak that night. My story has been a turning point in my life and needs to be shared. This is a story of hope and restoration. I praise God for His word and promises. They are always yes and amen.

God does need us to have our boots to the ground and do the hard work, and it is not always easy. When we do submit and turn to Him in this process, reconciliation is possible. It takes a heart that is yielding, eyes that see and ears that hear. When we decide to be obedient to His calling it is pure beauty we see.

My husband and I were talking at the dinner table before eating as we always do. In our journey of reconciliation, we said that we would always take the time to talk about our day, experiences, feelings and troubles. We turned our conversation to the Phoebe night where I spoke. I mentioned that my parents didn’t seem interested at all. The tears instantly started to flow down my cheeks. It hurt. Period. I don’t know if there is ever a time in life where you don’t want your parents to be interested in your life. I am 51 years of age and still seem to need my parent’s approval and support. Does that ever stop? I mean really?

You may be thinking that I shouldn’t even think that way. Get over it! Well, for me, it’s not that easy. I will not get into any details, but there is history. When it comes to times like this, it’s like I crawl back into a little girl’s body and wonder if I will ever be good enough. Will I ever do anything that makes my mom and dad proud?

I am now a mother and grandmother, and my children are one of my greatest joys. I have decided through this painful time in life to be the best mom and grandmother I can be. I have NOT been the best mother in the past and made horrible mistakes. But I am committed to being a mentor and someone who my children can come to. I want to create a safe environment for them to come home to. They should be able to come to me, talk and vent, with no judgment but to love and guide them the best I know how. I will always pray for them and love, unconditionally.

We need to create a space for our children to come and rest. Our children have great pressure these days and how else will they learn if they cannot come to us and talk. How many families are taking time for family dinners these days? Are we all just on our phones not paying attention to the conversation? Is the television on and all attention given to the boob tube? There will be a day when these faces will not be at the table anymore. There will be empty chairs and sadness, maybe a regret or two. My heart is sad when I type this. I don’t want this for my family at all. I want us to make the best of our time together laughing and talking, maybe even tears.

I challenge you to evaluate your family time. I challenge you to pray big bold prayers for you and your children. If you aren’t, then who is? Take the time to tell your children how proud you are of them and how much you love them. Hug them tight today.

I do this as I miss this.

My husband does this as he cannot do this with his parents anymore as they are in heaven.

I pray my children do this with their own.

We need to raise our children in a loving, welcoming safe home.

May God help us!

Front Line

The Unconditional Love of a Parent