TREASURING YOUR CHILDREN
20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [18]: Wise as a Serpent and Gentle as a Dove
To be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove is something Jesus told his friends when he was encouraging them as they went into a world that was often hostile.
While you are probably not surrounded by a hostile family, it can sometimes feel as though your life is full of challenges, problems to solve, and terrible uncertainty about what to do next. How you respond to those challenges could make or break your family!
Obviously, you don’t want to become hostile to the situation. Clearly, that would not end well. So, what do you do? This idea, to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove, is key. You can choose to be the sort of mother you always needed.
Go Back to 20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [17]: Let Go of Your Children
It’s a Balance
Motherhood is what you make if it. Some are blasé about their journey, and head into the day-after-day, seemingly unaware of the consequences of their actions.
My friend Mary told me, “I just had my kids and I didn’t even really think about it. They were basically just there.” Mary looks back with regret, and it’s like knowing she was holding precious raw diamonds and never did anything with them. She thinks of opportunities missed.
The other extreme relates to those who over-parent. Thinking they are making life easier for their children, in fact they make life very difficult in the long-term. By being control freaks, they organize little lives to the point that they can do nothing without a hovering parent. Helicopter parenting is more like over-crafting those precious diamonds. Valuable pieces can go missing, and sadly the spark can be lost.
Of course, no one is a perfect parent, but somewhere between the two extremes of {doing nothing} and {doing everything} is the more balanced space of intentional parenting. This is the reason for being wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove.
- WISDOM [Syn: insight, perception, understanding] is hugely necessary.
- GENTLE [Syn: kind, calm, tender] to bring that balance all children need.
- Plus one more extra quality that makes all t0he difference! Read on …
Wise as a Serpent
Don’t allow the negative side of serpents and snakes to confuse you. Jesus was not encouraging evil. He was looking at an animal, which in itself is neither good nor bad, and raising his listeners’ awareness about one of its good qualities.
Wisdom helps you strategically input into your child’s life. Wisdom enables you to look at the big picture from babyhood to adulthood, and helps you be aware of when you are under, or over, parenting.
Gentle as a Dove
On the other hand, gentleness allows you to keep that balance, and not be hostile or reactive. It gives you the space to dig into your motherly intuition, which is often far more accurate then we realize. Together, wisdom and gentleness help you be pro-active, rather than re-active.
But wisdom and gentleness alone are not enough. Because in reality, you cannot keep these qualities going alone. There’s one more thing.
Wise as a Serpent and Gentle as a Dove … PLUS
… one more extra ingredient
The secret ingredient to being a mother who rocks is prayer. Yes prayer! Who would’ve thought!
Prayer, wisdom and gentleness, are a winning combination. These are keys to being a mother who rocks. Because the Man Upstairs, is the one who can give you that tricky combination of wisdom and gentleness. And he loves to answer those sorts of requests.
Prayer, is the vital component to your motherhood journey. It’s the extra dimension I discovered when at the coal-face with five growing children. For me, prayer is still critical, even now my children are all young adults.
Check out Way to Rock at Being a Mother No 20 (coming in two weeks) to find out more about my prayer journey.
Sneak Peek: Prayer is a journey of self-discovery. I discovered it’s only by praying that you can successfully let your children go, or push past your comfort zones, or open your home to others, or discipline wisely, or even operate with freedom. It’s about asking God for his help, and for him to intervene when it’s beyond your own ability to manage.
It’s about being as wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.
Are there places where you need more wisdom? More gentleness?
Next week: 20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [19]: Treasure the Moment
