The other afternoon I was sitting on my porch, reading a book while my kids played in the yard. All at once I was startled by the sound of my son’s voice yelling, “Mom! Look over here!” I couldn’t see him anywhere and then realized the voice was coming from high up in the tree across the street. When I saw how high up my 11 and 9-year-old boys had managed to climb, I have to admit I was a bit terrified. But I knew they had done this before. They were competent and capable and proud. And they learned how to be competent and capable by taking risks.
It’s frightening as a mom to watch our kids step out into the big world in ways that could potentially cause them harm. Whether it’s trying out for a team, running for student council, learning to drive or stepping up to the piano for their recital, we don’t want to see them fail. It could be easy to wish for them to have a comfortable life without any fears or risks, but that’s not typically how they learn and grow.
God is making my children strong and courageous and he often uses the times that scare me as a mother to do it. I want them to learn that we serve a God who may ask us to do things that scare us when he knows it’s for our good and his glory. I want to model that for my kids both in supporting the wise risks they take and by being willing to step out in faith myself, even when it means facing my fears.
I will continue to help my kids make wise decisions and learn when a risk is worth taking. I will love and support them even when they fail and I will forgive them when they make a mistake. And when they yell, “Hey Mom! Look over here!” from the top of the neighbor’s tree, I will do my best to not be scared and just be proud.
Listen here: