Okay, so we are about two weeks into summer and my kids have already had a few knock down drag out arguments. Whew! In one of those moments this week, I caught myself saying out loud “I cannot handle this! Be quiet!” Have you ever said that?  Been there? The statement is a half-truth. The full truth is I feel like I cannot handle the bickering and complaining and whining.  (FYI: my threshold for whining is very low.) BUT, I can indeed handle it because of who I am in Christ and who He is in me.

This is a parenting moment where I get to choose to live out of Jesus and not my feelings. I can choose to make this about the stress it is causing me and my feelings,  believing the lie I cannot handle it,  or I can take a deep breath, refocus (set my mind – Colossians 3:2, Romans 8:5-6) on Jesus and allow Him to handle the moment through me. I get to believe the truth that Jesus lives inside of me and I have all of Him right now. Which means I have all His patience and all His peace even if I don’t feel like it.

When I choose truth and walk according to the truth of who I am in Christ, the bickering may not stop but I am not nearly as stressed, overwhelmed, or frustrated.

When I don’t choose Christ, I end up having to apologize to my kids for the words that come out of my mouth.

Summer offers me many opportunities to practice choosing Jesus in this area of feelings and responses. I am praying for all of us this summer that we may choose Christ in those moments. May this summer be one where we walk according to truth and not by feelings! May we parent through Christ’s life in us!