Motivational Monday ~ When things don't go as planned

I love being a mom.

 

 
 

I feel like it has always come easy for me.

Breastfeeding was a breeze...
My kids slept through the night early on...

They were always pretty well behaved as young children.

They both excel in school and their teachers almost always have positive things to say about them.

They're kind-hearted and compassionate towards others, yada, yada, yada...

 

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong we have our moments but for the most part, I've been pretty blessed.

 

Until now...

Now, my daughter is 15.  She's a freshman in high school.  She's still a good girl but parenting has gotten HARD!

 

 

 

 

Last week my daughter received a letter from the Leadership teacher at her high school informing her that she didn't make it into the Leadership program.  She had decided to not try out for cheer this upcoming school year and focus on leadership instead.  We knew that would be a gamble since not everyone makes it into leadership.  As you can imagine, the news was heartbreaking.

 

She was devastated.

 

 

Many of her friends made it into the program and that made it even harder for her. 

 

I got home from work and found her eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream out of the carton with a bag of Doritos sitting next to her.  Um, yes, it was that kind of bad.

 

I tried to console her and give her my best pep talk possible.

 

"Sometimes things don't work out how we'd like them to but we have to trust that God is still in control.  He has something better for us.  It doesn't make sense right now but someday it will." I said.

 

I'm pretty sure she wanted to throw something at me!  And I don't blame her.

She didn't need me to try and explain why it happened.
She just needed me to be present.
She needed me to feel sorry for her.
She needed me to comfort her.
She needed me to tell her that life sucks sometimes... I know I'm being mellow dramatic but to a teenager these things are very important!

 

 

 

And I failed.
  At saying or doing any of those things.
And that is why being a mother is now hard!

I need a manual!!!



So the next day I thought about her all day and prayed about it and really, honestly felt sad and sorry for her.  I wanted to email the Leadership teacher and tell her how dumb she was for not accepting probably the best leadership student on the planet, but I didn't.  (Big pat on the back to me!)



Instead, I texted my daughter while I was at work.  I flooded her phone with all these cute little motivational quotes that I've posted here and said, "I think a day of shopping and ice cream needs to happen ASAP!"
To which she responded,
YEEEEEESSSSSS!!



It's just a win-win the way I see it.  We needed to go summer shopping anyway and well, who needs an excuse for ice cream?

I don't know what kind of day/week/month or even year you're having but if it has been filled with disappointments or closed doors, hang in there.  We don't always understand why we get to walk through the challenges or hardships in life....
Is there a lesson to be learned from them?
Perhaps there is.

Whatever the case may be I hope you find something to bring you a little sunshine on this journey.




In other news, I know I've been MIA on this blog the last couple of months, but after losing my grandmother earlier this year, I just really needed a break from all the pressures of life.
Life is too short.
I'm trying to focus on the things that really matter.
My life is crazy busy but I do love this blog thing and have a whole bunch of posts ready to go!  I've been taking care of ME and I can't wait to share how I'm doing that!

Thanks for your patience!

xoxo
Delilah