Every time I'd voice frustration over some antic my young daughter pulled, my mother would exclaim "Blessed Parenthood!" I am now in the midst of the teen years and I have no idea how I am going to make it through. We have already had the sex episode and she is now about to start taking birth control pills. The grades are as loopy as a roller coaster and every Friday I clutch my heart as I wait for the online grade book to load on my computer screen. What horror awaits me? Often it's missed homework, a blown test or some other academic crime. She is a bright, smart, articulate young woman. What gives!??
I think what gives is her age. She is a sophomore and if I remember my sophomore year correctly I was a psychic hot mess. Hormones surging through me caused periods of great melancholy. Or I would become quite willful and truly wonder why I needed parents. My God I thought what did they contribute to my life other than make me miserable and imprisoned.
But I love my daughter. A parent's love is absolutely indescribable and unlike any love I've ever felt. I would do anything for her. You love that being from the moment they are placed in your arms unlike any other. I had a nice husband and I loved him, but it wasn't unconditional as I later discovered about myself and him.
I want my daughter to be successful. I want her to have the grades so she can attend pretty much any school she wants so those doors of opportunity open widely for her and she is embraced and carried forth by a multitude of opportunities. She has that much talent and that much grace that it can and will happen for her.
But as a mother it's tough living through the teenage years. So I guess my mother's exclamation is a concise prayer. Asking the Lord to bless our station in life and to keep us from grabbing their throats and sending them into eternity earlier than planned.
