MAMA-BEAR FEARS

Brian and I are in a small group Bible study through our church.  Everyone in our group has kids that are elementary age or younger, so the kids watch a Veggie Tales video while the adults discuss and study a related topic.

At our last meeting, we were discussing fears - both big and small.  After talking about fears of snakes and spiders, dark basements and heights, we moved onto the tougher stuff.

One mama said that one of her biggest fears is that she will do something - or not do something - that will irreparably mess up her kids.  While this isn't something that I think about often, it does come across my fear radar every now and then.  I was quick to empathize with her comments.  

The fear of failing our kids.  I thought this to be a pretty universal fear.

And then another mama chimed in with her counter view.  She literally said, "Really!?"  You could hear both the exclamation point and the question mark in her voice.  She said this was the least of her worries because she felt like it was inevitable.  She is giving it her all and when her kids are adults she will just tell them she is sorry for the parts that went wrong and offer to pay for some therapy.  This last part was said somewhat flippantly, but her overarching point was sincere.

The fact that we will fail them.  Another truth.

I already held both the fear and the inevitability of failure in my heart, but I hadn't really given time to the idea that this was inevitable.  I liked that second mama's attitude.  She's doing her best and, really, nothing more can be expected of her.

I want to adopt that attitude and combine it with the peace of knowing that God gave me my kids (and gave them me) for a reason.  We are human and things won't be perfect, but we were meant to be together.

Fears be gone - or at least minimized.

PS: I Am the Kind of Mama Who, Overcoming Fears About Becoming a Stay-At-Home-Mama