For whatever season you’re in – they still need you.
For the mother sending her child to school for the first time this year, she still needs you.
For the mother taking her last back to school photo before college, he still needs you.
For the mother fighting for the baby she hopes to carry in her womb someday, she still needs you to fight.
For the mother believing for the baby she hopes to hold in her arms someday, she needs you to hold onto hope, the way you’ll hold onto her when you meet her for the first time.
They need you in the labor and delivery room, for your body to fight as hard for them as you did in prayer.
They need you in the first seconds, minutes, hours, and weeks as they are discovering their safe place in the world.
They need you in the late nights to be soothed and early mornings to rescue them from the scary monsters under their bed.
They need you to sing to them as they fall asleep and to show them their voice in the world when they’ve forgotten.
They need you in the moments of tantrums and chaos, in a place where big emotions run wild, and small moments make them blow up.
They need to see you fail, so they know it’s okay when they do, but they also need to see you keep your head up.
They need to see you hang your head on days where your weakness meets God’s strength leading them to the heart of the father. They need to see you in your moments of unraveling because even then, they need you. Imperfect, unashamed of your feelings, just you.
They need to see the strength, and sometimes the weakness when the doctor gives a life-altering diagnosis.
They need to see that it is in those moments when we allow the deepest grace to cover us. And sometimes, in this life, that’s where they need us the most, and where we need them. Our kids need to see that it’s okay to feel, to have the strength to rest in God when we are at our weakest, as we unravel in the arms of our perfect Savior.
See, the thing about the process of becoming a mother, is you’ve never really arrived. There will always be times, seasons, stages where your children need you, as long as you’re here, and even after with the legacy you’ll leave.
They need you on the days where they’re young enough to tell you, and even more on the days where they’re old enough to say they don’t. They need you to still believe there is something in them worth fighting for. Worth loving. In a world that’s only getting bigger by the day, they need to know there is someone always rooting for them, even if they shrug you off. They’ll need you long after the days you’re here with them, and your voice now, will be the voice they carry in their hearts when they wish they could tell you again just how much they still need you.
Sometimes, the way they need you most in the stage of growing up too fast is to never stop fighting for them. I’m not talking about fighting with the teacher, the legal system, or with other parents, I’m talking about fighting on your knees. I’m talking about fighting with prayers for your children. They need you behind the scenes, on your knees, praying for God to direct their path (Jeremiah 29:11). Sometimes the best thing we can do as parents is to pause in the emotional fight and take up our swords in the spiritual one. In prayer, we ask the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God to intervene on behalf of our children.
“Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
See, even when your children say they don’t need you, they do, even if they can’t see it or won’t express it. Your reward will be the fruit you see in your consistency of battling for them on your knees. For more on how to pray for your children through the Word of God, click here to read the 5 Biblical Promises To Pray Over Our Children.
So here’s to you, mom, whatever season you’re in. Whether in the thick of late-night feedings, or active diaper duty, of playing the tooth fairy, packing lunches, running from activity to activity, or snapping that last photo of your child in high school…Deep down, your children know their need for you, and through your unconditional love, they will find their need even more for a savior. We must allow our children the freedom to feel in our presence, so that someday when God leads them into the arms of someone else, they will still experience the peace and stability we established in the walls of our home and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And even then, they’ll still need you.
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