This last year has been a mommy roller coaster ride.  Sammy J was a colic baby and the hours of screaming I endured for months on end were physically and emotionally draining.  It wore on my relationship with Jesus, Sam, Taylor, family and friends.  I was so spent at the end of everyday that I felt I had nothing left to offer.  The fog lifted when he turned 6 months and I told my husband, “we made it.”

If you are a mother you are probably chuckling because if it’s not colic it’s a new challenge.  All this to say I am now parenting a son who is funny, smart, cute and strong willed.  Now for those of you who say he’s just a boy I strongly disagree. This has everything to do with personality. 

The colic has left, but now I am entering new waters with Sammy J as he tests boundaries and my endurance.  How do I parent this little person who wants to be the boss of me? How do I give him boundaries, but not squelch his determination?  My mom tells a story of my 2 year old brother telling her that one day he would be the boss of her.  I think I have that same little boy living in my house.

Talking with a friend I said, “the hardest part of parenting this passionate little guy is realizing I need a lot of personal growth.”  Lord why do I need to grow now?  Can’t you just help me raise him and I’ll do my growing up later?  The truth is He loves me too much to leave me unchanged.  My circumstances will eventually change, but God is trying to grow me up so when the storms of life come I have strength to endure. 

I’m not an early morning person, but I’m becoming one.  My strength is found in those quiet hours with Jesus.  Philippians 4:13 is my new anthem cry…”I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency).”