I cleaned up the dishes and I learned later that \u00a0she snuck a call to her dad and asked him to bring home flowers for me that she would pay him back for\u2026<\/p>\n
I hung the dish towel to dry and she said, \u201cMom, I ran you a hot bath.\u201d Then she disappeared into her room.<\/p>\n
I walked into my bathroom and saw this note, and one of her coveted chocolate bars:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wearethatfamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_1139-472x600.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
I felt so seen and encouraged by my child. I think my 16-year-old daughter saw me as a woman and not just her mother maybe for the first time. It was precious and significant for both of us.<\/p>\n
I will never forget how my bad day became an opportunity for my daughter and I to see each other in a new way. Isn\u2019t this the kind of gift God gives us to unwrap?<\/p>\n
Recently, I heard a sermon based in the Psalms that talked about encouraging our souls when we are downcast by repeating the gospel and what we know is true back to our souls.<\/p>\n
This is what my daughter did for me and now I want to do it for you.<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t remember the bad day or what caused it, but I will never forget how God used my kid to turn my day around and bless my (parenting) soul.<\/p>\n
A (Parenting) Blessing<\/p>\n
God, we bless this day and those we live with under this roof.<\/p>\n
We bless our hard days, when we are stretched too thin with the burdens of this world.<\/p>\n
We bless the broken things that sound an alarm and demand our attention.<\/p>\n
We bless the microwave meals and the gourmet ones.<\/p>\n
We bless our efforts as mothers when all we give just isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
We bless our humanity, our honesty and vulnerability.<\/p>\n
We bless our children when they see us as humans and especially when they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
We bless our kids to be encouraged and to be encouragers\u2026 to learn to look past themselves and see others.<\/p>\n
We bless our children to know the gospel and remind themselves and others of its powerful truth.<\/p>\n
We bless their hands to serve the discouraged, to run hot baths and share prized chocolate for Your Names\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n
We bless our days that are crappy and trust you will help us to see the good in them.<\/p>\n
We bless our (parenting) souls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was all I could do to drive home after a brutal day where anything that could go wrong, actually did. I work in the nonprofit, faith -based world\u2026 so you know, a Tuesday. My husband wouldn\u2019t be home until late from work and so I called my teenager and asked her to get a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120875],"tags":[51287,4677,5517],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-322126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-life","tag-bless","tag-parenting","tag-souls"],"yoast_head":"\n