Raising kids is hard work and there’s no one right way to do it. And as a Christian mother, I know you want to be the best mom you can be. Motherhood is one of the most amazing journeys you’ll ever embark on. There are some things that will help you raise really great kids – even when the going gets tough. Today I’m sharing my thoughts on how to make your kids feel loved, supported, and encouraged.

This post was originally written October 2015. Updated April 2022.

I love being a mom.

I mean, I really love being a mom.

Sometimes I’m afraid to shout it out because I don’t want other moms who are struggling with motherhood to think I’m judging them.

It’s like a lot of the comments I get on my post, How to Structure the Day for a Toddler. Women are offended by my suggestions to be “present.” Or wonder when they are supposed to have “me time.” Honestly, my suggested schedule is just that – a suggestion. It’s what worked for me. And it worked well. And now I have five beautiful, kind, loving, hard working, faithful children who are ages 24, 21, 19, 14, and 12.

I won’t lie. Raising kids takes a lot of work. Raising great kids takes a lot of work and a whole lot of hands on training.

But, I rarely ever feel the need for a “break” from my kids. I just don’t. It’s not because I think I’m superior to other moms, but that I just really love being a mom. I like my kids a whole awful lot. They are really neat people!

There have been years that were especially trying for me as a mom. There have been many, many times when all I could do is cling to the feet of Jesus because I didn’t know if things would turn out okay – if my kids would be okay. If we would be okay. I’ve shed many tears and had my fair share of heart ache.

But the thing about hands on training when they are young is that rewards are great when they are older. It gets easier.

Honestly, though, when my older kids were little I had much less patience. It took me a few years to really figure out what my priorities were. It took me a few years to figure out what kind of mom I wanted to be.

And by the grace of God, I do feel like I’ve been a good mom. I am close to all of my kids. We talk. We laugh together. We like being together. Even though we’ve spent most of every day of their entire lives {until they were grown and left home} together because we homeschooled.

It’s been an amazing journey. Not always easy or perfect, but amazing nonetheless.

“Love is patient, love is kind…” 1 Corinthians 13:4

I learned to have patience, because as I’ve said before, the real key to patience is valuing the other person so much that nothing is more important than your relationship.

That’s what it’s really all about. Seeing that child as a person who has wants, needs, feelings, desires, a mind of their own. And respecting that little person.

Training your child to be obedient is also important. But when you respect your child and balance discipline with compassion, rules with spontaneous fun, and guidance with independence you’ll really teach your child how to be an amazing adult who makes a difference in their part of the world.

Childhood is fleeting. It passes by so very quickly. My goal as a wife, mother, a woman is live life to the fullest – to enjoy every day, embrace those I love, to live with abandon. We don’t know how long we have. There is not time to waste on selfish desires, frustration, anger, bitterness, resentment, or any other negative emotion.

I’ve spent the past seven days sitting in a hospital room with my daughter who will turn 21 in just a few days. She’s struggled for a long time but we’ve always been able to manage her health with diet. Until last weekend when she was in so much pain she started to black out and couldn’t even walk out to the car to be taken to the emergency room.

Hours later we were being told she would need surgery for an intestinal blockage or adhesion and it was after midnight when my husband and I along with our youngest three girls quickly grabbed a change of clothes and loaded into the car to drive all night to be by her side. We didn’t know what was going to happen.

I’ve sat with her as she cried in pain, as they shoved a tube up her nose into her stomach while she was awake, and as they made her drink a gallon nasty liquid for a colonoscopy. I held her while she cried and I’ve cried many tears myself watching her suffer.

What would I trade for Sarah? Nothing. This time with her looking at four walls, helping her weak body out of the bed hour after hour as she went to the bathroom, or helping her bathe in the shower, or taking slow walks down the hall while I push the IV pole… it’s all priceless to me.

I would rather she not go through any of this, but because she is, I want to walk that road with her.

I love being a mom!

And moms, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. I’ve held my newborn baby sick in the hospital with meningitis. I’ve held my baby in the hospital sick with pneumonia and other illnesses. My stepdaughter buried her two-year-old son and we never saw the accident coming.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. So, truly, hold on to your kids and love them today. “Me time” will come. Sooner than you think. Enjoy your children.

related: Enjoy Your Children | Day 23

P.S. Sarah did not need surgery, but she has been officially diagnosed with Chron’s disease – which can be a devastating illness. She’s been released from the hospital today! And we’re anxious to get home and figure out how to best help her stay healthy and live a normal, active life. Thank you for all of your prayers!