Peace in Parenting...from the Moraes Family

I was reading http://moraesfamily.blogspot.com/ and loved this post! With permission, I'm copying it here:

Ever since homeschool started, I've been engaged in numerous conversations with moms concerned about whether they are doing enough! Anxiously wondering if their children can compete with their public and private school counterparts.

I've taken part in loads of conversations with people who feel as failures, because their children do not add up to some "expectation" placed on them by other moms and their perception of what is taking place in other people's households. Fear and worry are shaking the very foundation of most, no, I take that back, all moms! (If you are reading this and feel you are the exception... call me, I'd like to pick your brain a bit! :) )

Sadly, I admit to being consumed with many of the same worries and fears. And here is where I choose to take a stand. For my own sanity's sake and the well-being of my family.

1. I choose to be myself, no matter what I think others might think of me.

2. I choose to honor God and only God for His will for my family.

3. I choose to enjoy and love my children exactly where they are and not constantly worry about how they measure up.

4. I choose to find peace in the fact that my children are wonderfully, fearfully and creatively designed to serve the greater purpose that the Lord has appointed them to.

5. I choose to encourage my children to be themselves (not someone else's child) and to find their God given gifts and abilites.

6. I choose to pray, pray, pray and pray some more. To faithfully intercede on their bahalf, pray for their protection, and like Job, ask for the forgiveness of their sins.

7. I choose to forgive myself for the mistakes that I've made and those that I will probably make in the future.

8. I choose to accept that my kids are a work in progress, just as I am! And just as I am not perfect, I should not expect them to be.

9. I choose to do my very best and then move over so that God will finish the work that He started in them.

NOTE TO MOMS READING THIS: Mom, you are doing a great job!! Don't allow worry to rob you of the time you have with your children. Before you know it, they will be gone. Make the most of every moment. Laugh, run through the rain barefoot, see the beauty in your children. Don't worry about their flaws, just be faithful and consistant. God will handle the rest. Pass on your faith with eagerness and let your Godly example shape your children's hearts. So they're dirty from head to toe, so your 4 year old doesn't read, so your 10 year old hasn't memorized the periodic table of elements, so child one picked a booger and flung it at child two, so what!! (Okay maybe that last one needs addressing LOL). Worry will only rob you of the joy your children bring. God's plan will prevail!! Lean on Christ in everything you do!! My prayer is that we rest in Him and allow Him to pour His peace into our hearts.
Hey, I'm a work in progress too...... but we all need encouragement sometimes! :)

Well said, Mrs. Moraes! Well said!