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Liberty in parenting

Today I had a couple situations arise where  I sensed that The Lord was speaking to me.  I am a full-time stay-at-home mom and it's been almost 7 years.  One of the things I have been praying a lot about during those years is the bondage that can form for myself in this particular station in life.  When your kids have so much access to you all the time, it is hard to know how much to give.  You struggle with guilt and uncertainty.  This starts with nourishment when a baby is born.  One of the concerns I have heard from every mom of a newborn I
have ever spoken with, including myself, is whether or not the baby is getting enough food.  Are they getting full??  This is the beginning of motherhood.  It becomes a defining factor in everything you do.  The first sense I got that God was speaking to me was this morning.  My 2 yr old son bugs me to play with him every morning while I am trying to eat and do my devotional.  So as I sat down to play today, I sensed the Holy Spirit ministering to me.  I don't have to be exciting as I play with him, he just wants me there.  But the big thing I sensed from God is that I shouldn't try to "satisfy" my kids. God said that is His job.  What a huge burden lifted off me.  To know that as a parent, I need to spend time with my children, but it is not my responsibility to leave them satisfied.  Then I sensed God saying something similar to me as we ate in  Chic filet today. When Carson was done with his nuggets, he asked for more.  I told him they were all gone, and as soon as I said that I sensed the Holy Spirit say that it is not my job to make them full, it's God's job.  While it is my responsibility to feed my kids,  it is not my responsibility to make them full.  While parents should spend time with their kids, it is not our job to try to satisfy them, it's God's job.  We place a lot of burden on ourselves as parents and in doing so, we don't allow room for our kids to look to God to "fill" them and to give them that contentment "satisfaction".  When we try to take on God's job along with our own, it causes a lot of guilt and condemnation.  It robs us of our energy and vibrancy as parents.  

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