“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” Proverbs 31:28.
If I listed all of the bad parenting I have done over the years, you would probably be reading this article for so long nothing in your homes would get done. It hurts my heart to even think me capable of being such a bad mother. My only comfort is the Proverbs 31 lady.
To some that chapter could be extremely scary, understandably so. It seems as though way too much is expected of her. One thing people tend to miss is this lovely lady accomplished these things over a lifetime. Nowhere in the chapter does it say she started off this way or was this great from the beginning. It gives me hope.
I became a mother at the age of 19 and suffered through Postpartum Depression. My husband at that time was in the military and had no desire to assist me with our daughter. “That’s not a man’s job” was what I often heard. I was exhausted from lack of sleep, forgot to eat most of the time because of the depression, and lacked the necessary parenting skills, so she was ignored every now and then.
A couple years later we had our second daughter but by this time I was fed up with his lack of involvement. I checked out, as a mother and wife, for the first few months of her life because I felt it was his time to be productive. We grew apart and I divorced him. It was the only option in my mind, because at the time I was not exactly living a godly life.
Thus began two years of being a single mom. I never imagined the work that went into being both mom and dad at the same time. I made bad choice after bad choice, until I met my current husband.
I never imagined the work that went into being both mom and dad at the same time. @notyetproverbs #imperfectmom Click To TweetOn our wedding day, I prayed for the Lord to help me become a godly wife, mother, and friend. I had no idea what that would entail but begged for His forgiveness and promised to do all He asked.
I grew up in a church so I knew there was such a person as the Proverbs 31 lady but never really studied her. WOW, what a woman! At first, I thought, how on Earth could this even be possible? I was exhausted with just being a parent, let alone everything else she was noted for. The more I studied the clearer it became.
She grew into that person.
My husband and I have since had three additional children. Although I still have moments of anger, resentment, irritation, tiredness, and more, it is definitely getting better because I am constantly in prayer for His strength. I was not completely sure about it until a couple of days ago.
We are currently going through the process of adoption; one of our children is adopted and we wanted to do it again. The social worker interviewed my older girls, the ones from my previous marriage, and without any prompting by us they informed her that we are great parents. Both of my older girls discussed at lengths how much their mother loves them and what a great parent I am.
So even though I lose my temper occasionally, want to have a “mommy’s day off” once a month, and have sent my kids to bed early just to have some peace and quiet when I have had enough of their noise, they called me blessed.
So even though I lose my temper occasionally, they called me blessed. @notyetproverbs #imperfectmom Click To TweetFear not readers, there is still hope for each one of you. It happened in her lifetime and God wanted us to know it so that we would see that it is possible.
With HIS love,
Sarah Ho
About the Author:
I am a “saved by the blood of the Lamb” Christian. I have been a Christian for many years but have been convicted, by God, regarding my Proverbs 31 status. I am a wife of an incredibly sexy husband and a mother to four of the most beautiful girls you will ever see and a handsome son. I am not at all exaggerating! Well, maybe just a smidge. I have been married for 12 years but was previously married, which is where my two eldest daughters came from. It was my behavior in my previous marriage that made me want to seek God’s guidance with my marriage now. I do not have all the answers and am by no means an amazing wife or mother but one of my goals is to work towards becoming that for them. I want my husband to love, respect, and honor me and my girls to know how to be a Proverbs 31 woman by the example I show them daily. I am an author who has been called by God to display His love through my writing and I take that very seriously since I will be representing Him to a very unsure-of-themselves population. I have my work cut out for me. I love the Lord and yearn to grow deeper in my relationship with Him. Follow me on Facebook.
