"How To" Parenting...Really?

Joshua 1: 10 – 11 

So Joshua ordered the officers of the people. 

Go through the camp and tell the people,

“Get your supplies ready.

Three days from now you will cross the Jordan

Here to go in and take possession of the land

The Lord your God is giving you for your own.”

         I’m in disbelief.  How did I get here? Where did the time go? Our man-child will be getting married in barely two weeks.  He has grown into a precious young man.  He has a tender heart.  He loves the Lord.

         My desire has been to be a good mom. I’ve wanted to show love unconditionally and point him to Jesus at every juncture.  I wanted to give him every tool to help him in his future as a follower of Jesus, as a husband and as a dad.

         You know what?  I didn’t know how and I don’t know now.  It has been a process of learning.  I’ve read my share of books. I’ve consulted every parent a step down the aisle who would give me a moment to answer the question, “So how do you raise a boy?”

         And now as I sit two weeks out from his big day, I find solace in God’s Word.  Just as Joshua stands on the threshold of the Promised Land, he didn’t know how.

         Joshua didn’t know how.  He didn’t know how he would cross the Jordan.  He didn’t know how he would fight the giants and he didn’t know how he would possess the land.  He only knew that God had commissioned him, he was not to be afraid and that God would be with him.

         Much like us moms don’t you think?  A child comes into our lives and we have no idea (or at least minimum ideas) of what to do.  But what we do know?  Is the same knowledge He gave Joshua, God has commissioned us in the obvious, He asks us not to be afraid and He promises to be with us.

         Being a mother is a trusting exercise.  By the worlds standards there are limited guidelines on how to parent.  If we choose to trust the society we will produce a child built by the social norms of the times.

         God didn’t give Joshua the knowledge of how to walk into the Promised Land.  Had the people shouted “HOW?” Joshua didn’t know.  He just believed what he was told.

         Ladies, we have been told, you have a child.  Find yourself in God’s Word. Be the mom He has called you to be. We don’t know the “How?” of parenting but we know who ultimately made the commission.