I need help

I’m now a mom of tweens. And it’s a lot. It’s wonderful and it’s exhausting. The middle school years are here and their brains—well hormones are turning them into mush. Impulsivity is through the roof and there is a lot of crying. I need help…if you have been there or you are there, you get it. It’s a lot (Did I say that already?). I have worked with tweens and teens for 18 years. I have studied their brains for my schooling. I have read numerous books. But working with them, learning about them, and living with them are very different things. I say this with love and a little frustration (these two emotions are often tied together in my life). I need help. 

There are times, I can’t fix what has hurt them. I miss them being little and being able to fix the pain by holding them and giving them a Band-Aid. Now, the pain is from hurtful friends, insecurity, the anxiety of an uncertain world, and bullying. Even in their younger school years, the bullying was easier to deal with. Now, they don’t want their parents involved and many times they need to figure things out on their own. That’s hard. Again, I need help. We need help. 

Thankfully, Help is what we have.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” -Romans 8:26

We who are in Christ, have an Advocate, Intercessor, and Counselor within us. Jesus in us is our Help, our Stay, and our Strength (John 14:26, John 16:12-15). The Holy Spirit defends us and pleads our cause. A mother’s cause is always for her children. What a relief, the Holy Spirit is pleading for my cause and their cause. So instead of worrying, I can turn to my Advocate and ask Him to plead for my children. I can know that the Holy Spirit who dwells within me will pray for what we need when I don’t have the words or wisdom to know. He takes care of us, helps us, and never ever leaves us (Hebrews 13:5). We can ask our Three in One to work in our hearts and in our children’s hearts to mend, protect, and soften. Their brains will continue to transform and renew (Romans 12:2) because of this power and truth. It’s the only truth that reminds me to release control and yield to the One who truly has the power to fix, help, and restore.

Rest in the truth, that you do not mother alone. Your God is in your family, behind your family, and before your family. There is nowhere we go, that He is not there (Psalm 139:5). 

“You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” -Psalm 139:5

Laura Jenkins- Mt. Juliet, TN laura.jenkins@mtjuliet.org