Mommy's Having a Hard Time

We were running late to a friend's birthday party last weekend, and I was in a hurry.  As I was driving, I realized I'd missed my turn.  I turned around.  About a mile down the road, I realized I had driven by the turn yet again.  I was apparently a little distracted.  So, I again pulled over to turn around.

My older daughter said, "Mommy, why can't you find it?"  I responded, "Mommy's having a hard time, honey.  Do you ever have a hard time?"  Confidently, she replied, "No."

I smiled.  How I remember that confidence.  I recall so clearly the assurance that I was right and that I had it together.  I did not have a "hard time" either. And then life happened. Marriage, law school, three children and a few years in the workforce later, I can definitively say that I do not always have it together. Sometimes, I have a hard time.

As a mom, I'm often tempted to hide my faults from my children.  Perhaps I hide them so that my children will feel secure and not worry.  If Mommy has it together, there is no need for them to worry because Mommy will take care of them.  But there is a problem here:  their mommy isn't perfect.  She messes up.  And then what?  What of their security?

But listen up, my sweet girls. There is wonderful news:  You are always secure.  Not because you are my children, but because you are children of the King.  And He never messes up or has a hard time.  He is sure and steadfast and worthy of all your trust.  Your source of comfort is not in your friends, not in your teachers, not in your jobs...and not in your mommy.  All of that can be taken away, and you are still secure, because the God who holds you never fails.

That's the kind of security that can quiet their spirit.