Motherhood When Children Are Young
A page from my newspaper column “Good Night, Lord” when I was a mom in the 1960s…
Help, Lord—I Need You
Dear Lord, oh, how I need You. I cannot seem to cope with the problems of modern motherhood. In the span of just one week, I experienced these happenings:
A bulldozer clearing the vacant lot behind our house hits the guidewire causing all the various wires leading to our house to come crashing down. What’s this? For three rain-splattered hours an endless parade of men stomp through my house and yard. A mere hole in the roof, a bit of an eave chipped off? We’ll settle next week but at least I have electricity throughout the house. Oh Lord, I need You.
I want a pair of shoes for the first-grader. The salesman says they’re a perfect fit. The kid insists something is sticking him. “Nonsense,” says the salesman. “First grade rebellion. Use psychology on him.” Instead, he uses psychology on me, and I buy the shoes. On the way home my child yanks off the shoe to show me a nail in the middle of the brand new shoe. Oh Lord, I need You.
The street is slick from rain, so I cautiously guide the car homeward. Out of nowhere a “bug” of a car is coming at me—frontwards, now backwards, now sideways, skidding, hitting a parked car head of me. I swerve, he misses. Thanks, I needed You, Lord.
Then one night I have a meeting to take photographs for my newspaper job. My husband turns down my offer to give the children their baths before I leave. I am the one who usually oversees bath time. But he says tonight he’ll do it, thank you very much.
Later, I return home to a humming washing machine and a waltzing clothes dryer. Sheets, towels, and bedspreads are lying helter-skelter all over the garage floor. Good grief, is someone sick or are they all dying?
Moments later I figure out what happened. He let the bath water overflow. See, he went outside to call the youngsters in, but the basketball net and the fresh air were just too inviting. So, he stays a bit too long at play—like 20 minutes’ worth. The carpeted house is flooded. He enlists the aid of neighbors, rents a suction vacuum cleaner, and uses every available piece of linen in the house to soak up water.
He meets me at the door with the sheepish look. “Guess I ruined the carpet,” he stammers. I walk squish-squash through the hallway. And I murmur: “Oh, is that all that happened?”
Dear Lord, You know I need You!
Life’s lesson learned: God gives every generation the ability to deal with difficult situations. The unexpected often happens in a busy, crazy culture but we can get through when we ask the Lord to help us.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that family means more to me than things. Thank You for Your protection and provision and for rescuing us even in difficult circumstances. Amen.
Scripture: I will say of the LORD,” He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him will I trust. (Psalm 91:2 NKJV)
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