Pondering Parenthood: Learning to Let Go

Every day, I realize more and more the importance of letting go, especially if you are a parent. As a self-confessed "control freak," this is certainly not something that's easy for me to do. Letting go and letting things "just be" are not actions that I can easily take.

However, being on bed rest for over a month now has made me realize that letting go and "letting God" is part of our daily life as parents, or at least it should be.

Letting go and letting God
I believe that God has a purpose for me being on bed rest, although admittedly, it has been very challenging for someone like me, who's always "on the go." I must admit that I've found myself complaining a lot and "cheating" sometimes, i.e. not resting as much as I'm supposed to.

Still, I know that letting go and letting God take over the aspects of my life that I am reluctant to give up will only do me good, and so I must do just that. As I share with you my realizations today, I encourage you to do the same - to relinquish control over your life and just let God take over.

1. Let go of your past and let God take over your future.
It's never easy to move on from our past mistakes, especially when we seem to repeat them over and over and over.

As a parent, I've found this to be oh-so-true. I've made, and still make, a lot of mistakes when it comes to raising and teaching my kids. It almost seems like it's a vicious cycle sometimes - one that I wish would get broken and be "converted" into a cycle of love, peace, patience and understanding. (Am I the only one who feels this way?)

Deciding to let go of my past mistakes as a person and as a parent so that God can take over and shape my future and the future of my kids is definitely something I need to do. Isn't it something we all need to do?
 
2. Let go of your weaknesses and let God be your strength.
I have a lot of weaknesses - I can be impatient, selfish, short-tempered at times (OK, a lot of times), a nagger and whiner, impulsive and oh so many other things. In fact, I always think that people who know me only from my blogs and articles would probably be shocked if they could see what goes on in our home every day!

I know that sometimes my weaknesses get the better of me when I am really tired physically, emotionally and/or spiritually. Being a parent - especially a hands-on one - can be exhausting. I've realized though that this is no excuse for giving in to my weaknesses. When I am weak, I should let God be my strength - and let Him help me in becoming a better mom.
 
3. Let go of your finances and let God be your provider.
It's really challenging to do this - to let go of our finances. But I've learned that it's something we really need to do. Money is definitely something all of us need, especially if you have kids. Sometimes it's hard to say, "OK, God, I trust You and I know You"ll provide for us," especially when a lot of times there seems to be "more month than money."

During such periods in our family's life, we try to "keep calm and carry on." My husband and I have also learned that maintaining the habit of tithing (giving 10% of our income to God) has become a way for us to develop an "abundance mentality."

Even if we sometimes feel that our monthly income is not enough for our needs and emergency expenses, we are faithful to our commitment to tithe - trusting that God will provide. And you know what? He always does!

4. Let go of your kids and let God be your parenting guide.
This is certainly not an easy thing to do. As parents, we sometimes feel the need to have complete control over our children (Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly do sometimes).

However, being a "helicopter" parent or an overbearing one isn't healthy for us nor for our kids.

There will be times when we will need to let go and let our kids make mistakes, and learn from them.

There will be times when we will need to let go and let our kids explore, discover and create - all on their own, without any meddling from us, or statements like, "This is how it should be done," or "This is what that should look like."

There will be a lot of times when we must let go of our kids... And let God be our go-to guide for parenting them.

Yes, letting go can be a hard lesson for all of us. But if we learn all we can from it, we just might find ourselves better off - as parents and as individuals.