Mom Alarm

I recently heard a news report about a safe haven law in Nebraska that allows you to drop off your teenager at a Safe Haven location and they become a ward of the state. I am not going to debate about whether the Safe Haven is a good law or a bad law. That is not my intention. I am also not going to talk about the women that may have to give up their children and I what I think about it. But this opened up some thought in my head and well, you clicked here so you're reading about it.

I believe that as moms we have a "mom alarm". I read a devotion about the mom alarm today. as mom's we have a "6th sense" so to speak (i like to call it the Holy Spirit) that tells us when our kids need us and if they may be in trouble. How do we get from protecting our precious little one, to having a teen that is so out of control that you just drop them off and be done. You have loved and cared for this child for something like 15 years and then you drop them off. I don't get it.

So here I am, I am the mom of a 17 year old boy. He'll be 18 in 6 months. There have been many times over the last year that I have thought, "well, i must be done, he doesn't need me anymore" and I had to tell myself it's not true. He just likes to hide it.

Just because my teen is hiding the fact that he needs me because he wants to be an adult, just because he actively pushes my help away, does not mean he doesn't need it. It's my job to stick in there and love him when he's unlovable. To stick with it and yes, still punish him when he needs it. just because he turns 17 or 18 doesn't mean he doesn't need me anymore. In some ways, he needs me now more than ever. The decisions he's going to make over the next year are going to be the biggest in his life so far. He needs help making them even if he doesn't want to admit it. Also, he wants my help, he just doesn't want to admit that he wants my help.

In so many ways, we are the same way with God. We are like those pesky teenagers that push Him away because we can do it ourselves. We want to make our own decisions and prove we can do it on our own. Perhaps we want to show Him that we can be responsible, but in reality, we still and will always need Him. I'm so grateful he doesn't give up on me. I'm glad he doesn't think that because I may want to do things on my own that he doesn't turn his back on me. I'm so glad that when we are out of control he doesn't drop us off somewhere.

Father, thank you for your unconditional and unfailing love...even when I don't deserve it. Thank you for NOT giving me what I deserve.

Mothers can come in all shapes, sizes and genders and can enter your life when you least expect it. They are there because God has sent them, He hasn't given up on you...or me.