Good Morning VietMom!

A number of years ago, a girlfriend of mine encouraged me to begin writing a blog.  Blogging was just becoming a “thing” of sorts,  and I gave it a feeble effort.  The title of the blog was “Good Morning VietMom,”  and I chose that title because I was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that being a mother was a serious battle.  At the time, our nation was mired in a war that began on September 11th, 2001, but I was a young mother fighting a serious war on the home front – a war called PARENTING.

This Mother’s Day I am reminded of that somewhat silly blog but also of the not-so-silly reality that we face in raising our children in a war zone known as planet Earth.  As the mother of three sons and a daughter and as a full-time educator, I find myself more than ever battling for the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of my own children and the children in my daily care at school.  I am astounded at the difficulties and confusions facing our young people, and I sometimes feel as if the fog of war will be my undoing.  How do I help my teenage son thoughtfully negotiate his first love without doing permanent damage? How do I bring my fifth-grade daughter through the trenches of middle-school friendships?  How do I send my Senior on a dangerous mission called “adulthood” rightly fitted with all the armor he will need?  How do I help my thirteen-year old son become a man in a world where manhood is increasingly mishandled, mocked, or marginalized?  And will I survive motherhood, or will I be left with visible scars and a very real case of PTSD?

I’m guessing it’s going to be a little bit of both.

Still, this Mother’s Day I am reminded of two important truths:  First, I have a strong and wise Commander-in- Chief named Jesus Christ, through Whom all things are possible… even parenting!  In fact, when I feel like those Scottish farmers in the movie “Braveheart,” tired and trembling in fear, facing an overwhelming enemy, here comes my Hero reminding me I am fighting for a great cause called the spiritual freedom of our sons and daughters.  Second, I have a lovely Band of Mothers with whom I go into battle, these few, these happy few… who are my sisters, my comrades-in-arms, mothers and women who have held my hand, wiped my tears, prayed me through fear, and stuck with me through the bitter watches of the night.  And these truths give me comfort and the courage to fight yet another day.

Honestly, I am not so young anymore, and I do most of my battling these days on my knees.  Maybe you do as well.  But dear mother, we fight the good fight!  We go to war for the hearts and minds of our children, and we stand guard over the affairs of our households.  We plead the cause of righteousness and justice, and we pray for God’s provision, protection, and mostly for His dear Presence.  When we stumble, we get back up, and when we get it wrong, we try again.  No one gets left behind, because we serve the Bravest Heart of all time, and that’s just how our Savior works.

So Happy Mother’s Day VietMom!  When you feel afraid, you can trust in Him!  And this I promise as well:  I will do my level best to be a good friend, a good teacher, and a good sister-in-arms.

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