When Parenthood Is Messy

As the parents of only one child, Dave and I have only experienced a small supply of messes. Although I was half-asleep those first few months of parenthood, I well remember the fountain of spit-up that would follow a feeding, the numerous loads of laundry full of stained clothes, and the emergency baths when wipes just weren't going to cut it.

I know that in the future, we'll likely experience the "fun" of cleaning up a finger paint mural on the wall or floor, the spilled milk on the kitchen counter, the baby powder blanketing the nursery. And, if we have any other children, we'll get to experience the spit-up stage again and again.

But whenever G makes a mess, like she did tonight even, I don't yell at her or decide that the mess is too big to clean up and just give up on being her mama. I clean it up (sometimes frantically before she can get into it again) and give her a cuddle if she's feeling upset about it. I realize that making messes is all a part of G's life right now.

Currently, we're still dealing with the physical messes, but I know that we'll experience other messes, too. The ones that aren't so easy to clean up. The ones that require a prayer for wisdom as we navigate a broken friendship or a broken heart together.

Parenthood is full of messes, but we as Christians have an amazing example of what it looks like to be a good parent. Our heavenly Father patiently walks with us through our messes. He doesn't give up on loving us, no matter how big the mess may be.

As I think about the mess we had to clean up and the love I still feel for my daughter even though she required a lot of work tonight, I'm reminded of my Father, who still loves me even when I make my own big messes.