What a lovely day it’s been! The Lord is so good. Yesterday was kind of an emotional day for me. I wish that I had my emotions under control every day…it’s definitely something I’m working on! But sometimes life is hard, and I just need to release my feelings.

My mother and I do not understand each other very well, and we do not have much of a relationship. This possibly is something I will dive into at another time. I know I’m not the only person who has faced hardship in this area.

Anyhow, this came to a head yesterday. I braved some hard feelings. But today, the Lord has given me a beautiful day of peace. And then, a miracle happened. Sometimes we need to be willing to forgive, even when the opposite party doesn’t ask to be forgiven. To start over, despite past hurts.

During this time, I was reminded just how important it is to encourage our children. First of all, we need to encourage them to follow the will of God for their lives, and to listen to Him closely. He will never lead them astray! But we also need to encourage them in their interests if they are wholesome, and to always give them a listening ear. We need to let them know that we love them unconditionally.

When our children are young, we need to encourage them in the small things. Let’s compliment our children! Even if they do not remember each and every encouraging word we spoke, they will remember feeling loved and valued as a young child.

We need to understand that our children are not carbon copies of ourselves. They will make choices in life that we wouldn’t make at times. This is perfectly okay! God’s plan for them is not God’s plan for us. They will likely be sent in a different direction than we were taken. We can’t expect them to always do what “we” would like. What matters is that they do what God would like.

Oh, how I would love for all of my children to remain close to home. I would love to visit each one of them on a regular basis. But I need to remember that when they are far, they remain in the palm of God’s hand. Encouraging them in their endeavors (again, wholesome endeavors), will knit our hearts together instead of pushing them away.

Our children need our encouragement. If they do not get it from us, they will go looking for it elsewhere.

Wouldn’t it be better if they got it from us?

Our children are blessings, who we need to steward wisely when they are small. And once they have grown, we need to be prepared to let go. We should encourage them to follow the Lord with their whole hearts.

I hope you were encouraged today, friends. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. May God bless you!