Helpless

One of the many things I have learned through motherhood is how very helpless I feel much of the time.

When a toddler is throwing a fit in a restaurant, and I am slinking out the door with him/her for the sake of the other diners, I feel helpless.

When one of my children loudly asks why some people (with only one person standing nearby) wear dirty shoes "all of the time", I feel helpless.

When one of my children is sleeping in my lap, burning up with fever, I feel helpless.

When one of my children comes home disappointed that her team lost the basketball championship, I feel helpless.

When there are signs all over facebook (messages, photos) that social events are taking place that my children were not invited to, I feel helpless.

When a child fights back tears after not being chosen to participate in an after school club, I feel helpless.

When I have had to talk to teachers about children's misbehavior, work habits, or study skills (all things we truly do emphasize at home), I feel helpless.

When someone makes fun of my children for not having a t.v. in their room or not being able to watch R rated movies (all choices that WE have made for our children), I feel helpless.

When I watch the nurse take my child away for surgery and I can't go with him, I feel helpless.

When I overhear someone critiquing my daughter's gymnastics skills (comparing them to their own child's), I feel helpless.

When I know that a heartache is inevitable, that life will not work out the way we want it to, I feel helpless.

When I find that our pet fish has floated off to the great big bowl in the sky (not recently) and my children are sobbing with grief, I feel helpless.

When it is obvious how much the robbery has affected my daughter's heart and her security, I feel helpless.

When I feel like my children are being judged based upon the color of their skin rather than who they are as people, I feel helpless.

When someone attacks the character of my child based on one event (that nobody really knows the details of), I feel helpless.

When I pull up to my child's school to find numerous fire trucks and an ambulance (later to find out it was for a brush fire next door), I feel helpless.

When I find out some kids are calling my child an ugly word for no reason, I feel helpless.

And the truth is, I am. I am helpless. Sometimes there is nothing I can say or do to fix things. Sometimes I just have to trust that there really is a Good Shepherd in this world who loves me, who loves my children, and who will be the help, the guide, the support that we need.

Help me, Lord. Help me to be the mom you desire me to be. Help me to rely on you to help us through the hard parts. And help me to know when and where I should try to help and when you should do it on your own.

Amen.