Parenting a Prodigal

Motherhood… It takes a Courageous Woman.

If I thought that raising three little ones and working full-time just to barely make ends meet was hard… I had no idea what I was in store for until they became teenagers… that is the definition of hard!

Honestly I used to hear the stories when my children were younger and I seriously thought that it was a bit of an exaggeration.  How hard could it be? I thought naively… Well I have to admit, I have spent many many more hours praying for my children as teens than I did when they were little ones.

Never would I have predicted almost 19 years ago when my only son was born that we would one day face a time like this.  Over the years, we have taken him to church, taught him the scriptures, put him through Christian school, and prayed together, but it wasn’t enough to fight the roaring lion. The battle with the “enemy” began about 6 years ago and throughout this time we have encouraged him, corrected him, punished him, forgiven him, and cried out to God for him.  Just like the father in Luke 15, I too have a Prodigal son.

I have been in a battle, not with our son, but with the devil who wants to destroy him. God has been merciful by keeping him safe throughout the last 6 years of his “worldly” living.  God’s protection has been powerful.

I have faith. I know that he will come back to the Lord,  just as the Prodigal son did in Luke 15 and until then, I will continue to show him the love of God through support, forgiveness, open arms and prayer. He is after all, my only son and I love him more than words could express. Even through everything we have faced, he and I have managed to keep our relationship strong, and this, I give God the credit for.

The Word has truly carried me through this time and I am surviving parenting a prodigal with a lot of prayer.  If you have a prodigal son or daughter, I look forward to hearing from you and sharing our lessons.

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.  Luke 15:32