For the past seventeen years I have been a parent.   I could have never imagined that my life would have turned out the way that it has, ordinary it is not.  I am a mother of six children, 4 biological and 2 adopted.  Two of the six children have Down Syndrome, of which one is adopted,  and another child was adopted at age 12 from the Ukraine.  No parenting  book would have prepped me for what life would be like or how to handle the daily trials.

Recent days have brought me to a new awareness of the difficulty level of parenting in situations that are out of the ordinary.  I do not know the mental capabilities of my children with disabilities, nor do  I know all of the of the case histories, biological factors, and circumstances of my adopted children that make them who they are.  I did not even speak the same language of one of my children.  My children with special needs have bodies of teenagers and minds of a toddler, how do I handle that?   People will ask me why my children do certain things or what can we do to fix particular behaviors, honestly, I do not know.

I write this with the hope to encourage a parent who is discouraged, who may not have all the answers, or is not seeing the results they had anticipated.  I too, am in  this situation, but I am becoming increasingly aware that I have the wrong objectives in mind. Is knowing everything and producing results godly motivations?   God has not called me to be all-knowing (Him), nor has God called me to produce results (fruit) in anyone.  What has He called me to?  God has called me and every other parent to be faithful to Him in the good times and the bad times.  God has called me to love others on every occasion.   I have lost  my focus when I am distracted by not having all the answers or being discouraged because my children do not do what I want them to do.  Outward circumstances are a way to draw me to God.  Godly living is not focusing on what I see, but focusing on  Him who is unseen (2 Co. 4:17-18) .  If you are struggling in your parenting  remember these truths about God which will help you to rise above discouragement:

God wants us to go to Him when we lack wisdom (Ja. 1:5-6).

God will supply us with what we need.   (Php. 4:19)

God is there to be our strength when we are weak.  (2 Co. 12:10)

God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight.   (2 Co. 4:17-18)

God produces fruit, not us.  ( I Co. 3:5-7)

We can walk by faith and be content with God’s plans for our lives and the lives of those we love.  No quick fixes or easy answers, just persistent faith.