Mothering in the Trenches

Today has been one of the hardest days of parenting I've ever had.

Today marks the day Jasper learned how to throw a temper tantrum.

By temper tantrum, I don't mean a little whining and fussing. I mean screaming, stomping, slapping things, yelling, arching his back and more yelling.

Parenting has just been raised to a whole new level.

A little background...

We are house sitting for some dear friends of ours and they have a cat, Stella, whom Jasper has a love/hate relationship with. Jasper loves her, Stella hates him. Going to visit Stella has been a growing issue for Jasper; he constantly wants to go see Stella and has had trouble accepting it when we tell him, "No."

Well, Jasper knows where I keep the key for Stella's house, so the instant he woke up this morning, he went to the key and said, "Lella!!! Lella!!" and I said, "No, we're not going to see Stella right now. We can go later, though." and Jasper threw a full-fledge temper tantrum (first time ever). It caught me off guard, but it spoke of a sinful heart that needed loving correction.

Andrew and I strongly believe in loving discipline for our son (Proverbs 23:13 "Do not withhold discipline from your son..."), so I lovingly disciplined Jasper for his defiant attitude, gave lots and lots of hugs and kisses, and I thought we were done with the issue. Nope. The moment our "hugs and kisses" were over, Jasper walked over to the key, said, "Lella!!! Lella!!" and I said, "No, we're not going to see Stella right now. We can go later, though." and Jasper threw his second full-fledged temper tantrum. Same routine about loving discipline. As soon as we were finished with hugs and kisses the 2nd time around, Jasper went right back to the key and had his 3rd straight temper tantrum.

I had 2 initial thoughts.
Thought #1, "Are you kidding me???"
Thought #2, "Fine! Let's just go see Stella; it would be MUCH easier than dealing with this allllll day long."

And then, instantly, the Holy Spirit started working on my heart. Praise God for that. The Spirit just kept giving me gentle nudge after gentle nudge. "Give him the gospel. He's a sinner in need of a Savior. Give Jasper the gospel and point him to the saving love of a perfect Savior."

Well, Jasper continued having sinful, defiant temper tantrums ALL morning long. However, along with his loving discipline, hugs, and kisses, we talked ALL day long about a perfect Savior. We talked and talked and talked. Or rather, I talked as he said "Lella!!" all day. I talked about...
A Savior who wants to forgive all Jasper's sins and save his soul.
How amazing God's love is.
How God cares about Jasper's sin and how horrible sin is to God.
How Jasper's sin needs to be taken care of and forgiven.
How Jesus took care of Jasper's sin.
How God is just yearning to save Jasper's soul.
How God wants Jasper to be a little boy who loves Him with his whole heart.

Now, who knows just how much Jasper heard or understood. But my responsibility as a godly parent is to give my children the gospel, regardless of their age and/or circumstances, and I fervantly thank God for reminding me of that today.

I feel wholly inadequate as today I've realized that magnitude of raising and training a child to love the Lord. I'm a sinful mama trying to teach a sinful toddler about God's perfect and saving love. Praise God for His grace in my life.

I've been clinging to a verse all day. Romans 8:26 "The Spirit helps us in our weakness." I praise God for the Bible and the help of the Spirit. I have been praying for the salvation of our precious Jasper's soul since the day we learned we were pregnant, but today is the first day I've been praying for his salvation "without ceasing". Please join us in praying that Jasper will be a little boy who loves God with his whole heart and from a very early age. How we love our precious boy!