Several years ago—before we were a family of six—John,
Zach, Elizabeth, Olivia, and I went to feed the fish in the pond and let Zach throw a line in while the girls looked for tadpoles. John and I were
on the four-wheeler and the kids rode in small wooden trailer hitched to back of it.
Afterwards, while we were riding back up to the house we saw the rain
coming toward us. We literally saw a
huge wall of heavy rain moving across the field in our direction. It was actually
really cool seeing nature at work like that, but it also left us feeling
completely powerless. There was nothing we could do to escape the fact that we
were going to get wet. Very wet.
I can still hear the kids giggling and squealing as we rode
through the pouring down rain and as we ran into the house sloshing and
dripping. And I also remember that in the short amount of time it took to get
out of our wet clothes and into dry ones, the rain stopped. It was over almost
as quickly as it had begun.
There had been no getting around that wall of rain, and staying
where we were to wait it out wouldn’t have kept us from getting wet, either. It was coming and
there was nothing we could do to stop it. Just like life.
As a parent there are going to be times in our lives and in
the lives of our children when we see the storms coming—the consequences of
poor choices, rebellion, broken hearts, disappointments, failures, accidents,
and even circumstances beyond our (or their) control. We see them coming so we look for any
possible way out—ignoring the problem, denial, pride, or running away.
But the
voice of experience tells me (loud and clear without stuttering or stammering)
that the only way to deal with the storms of parenting is to face them head-on.
See them for what they are, acknowledge them, go through them, learn from them, and then ‘dry yourself off’ and enjoy the renewal and refreshing that comes
afterwards—maturity, humility, wisdom, stronger relationships, confidence,
compassion, and just plain ole common sense.
Being a parent is rewarding, fulfilling, and the most important job on earth. It is also the most difficult and most heart and gut-wrenching job on earth—one with
its share of pop-up storms. But just like a rain storm brings growth and
refreshment, the storms you weather as a parent can do the same.
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2017 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
