A Gracious God & A Distracted Mama

My head is swimming. I want to read all the things. Watch all the videos. Consider and implement all the advice. And not just on parenting. Living in the Information Age is both thrilling and overwhelming. It's perfect for homeschooling and DIY-ing, but it's also the perfect distraction from the people and life right in front of us, from learning through experience, getting our hands dirty and being uncomfortable.

Distraction can slowly push us out into a sea of anxiety if we don’t catch ourselves.

Distraction is not something I can really afford when my only children, my First Borns, are twins. This means that by the time I’ve gotten a handle on Age 5, we’ve moved on to Age 6. Once I’ve figured out Age 6, we’ve moved on to Age 7, and I’ll never have a 5 or 6 year old again. I get ONE year with each age and then we’ve forever moved on. Each childhood stage is completely new to me and I’m in a constant state of experimentation. And of course “twins” just refers to children born together, not to siblings who are essentially the same person, whether they look alike or not. They aren’t even maturing at the same rate. One child is currently giving me the attitude I’d expect from a 10 year old.

So what to do? We could change our environment, become a minimalist, to remove distractions and unnecessary chores related to managing stuff. But it won’t fix a heart issue of consumption, or laziness, or anxiety, or idolatry. It won’t fix the urge to plug the hole in the boat with more ideas, more hobbies, more information, more shiny toys, more dopamine hits. More, more, more.

What if I stop applying my American consumer habits to my parenting? Close all the tabs with parenting advice, stay home from Target, get creative with the supplies I have on hand. What if, when the parenting books stop being helpful and just pile on the guilt, I put them away for now and turn to the Source I trust most anyway. The ever-kind Creator who sees and values each and every personality type He personally fashioned. What if when my child is loud and overreactive for the millionith time, instead of racking my stressed brain trying to remember which parenting hack to apply...what if I just remember how God parents me?

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. -Psalm 103:8-10

He doesn't define us by our sins. His mercies are new every morning. In fact:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. -Psalm 103:11-14

Isn’t that beautiful? I think if we really felt the full extent of God’s love for us, it would be so totally overwhelming. I’m positive that the limits of language have been reached in this passage describing God’s love and how effective His salvation is for us: “as high as the heavens are above the earth…as far as they east is from the west.”

I’ll end this post with one of my favorite songs. If you’re reading this, and your boat’s become unmoored, this is the song for you.