As my little kids get older, I’m reflecting more on what my mother did right in raising me.  And you know something I appreciate about her parenting style?  She did not corner me.

There were times when I wasn’t being my best self, or I was hiding something, or I was struggling with something that I didn’t want to talk to her about – and I knew that she knew it. 

It meant so much that she didn’t get up in my face and try to fix me or interrogate me.  If she brought it up at all, she did so in an unassuming, measured, and ladylike way.  My mom didn’t need me to unload everything and validate her role as a mother, because she trusted God to be a good Father.

I still remember when my 20-year-old brother was in a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere, and I tried to talk sense into him.

“Say something to him, Mom,” I pleaded.

“No,” she said, “he’s not my child.  He’s God’s child.  He will take care of Caleb.”

I pray that I will find that balance as a parent.  I pray that I will be involved without hovering, that I will care without needing to be needed by my child.  I pray that like my mom, I will believe that God loves my child more than me.

If you’d like an email with a weekly recap of what I’ve written, click here.  You can also keep up with my latest articles (and more) on Facebook or Twitter.