Children are a Gift From God (Even on the Hard Days)

I talk a lot about the hard and the overwhelm of being a young mom, but there is something else I want others to know even more. My children are a great blessing. 

Psalm 127 teaches that children are a gift, or a heritage of the Lord depending on which version you use. They are the fruit of the womb and a reward. They are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. God’s word puts them in a beautiful light. 

For whatever reason, today little children are often seen as anything but a gift of the Lord. I am sure the devil is behind that thought as He tries to destroy everything beautiful that God has made. Let’s go against that train of thought.

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It’s True That It’s Hard Sometimes.

I always wonder how people in other parts of the world would see my family of four littles. In Costa Rica, it seems that everyone loves babies, but most people don’t want more than one or two. “It’s so hard,” they say. I have to agree, my motherhood journey has often included hard times.

We have a 15-passenger van that someone once called our kindergarten. It does sort of look like it when we are loading up our little row! I also got stopped while walking in town once with my baby in the baby carrier, because an older lady wanted to see him. I suspect that a lot of people are observing us and know who we are, even when I don’t know them.

It’s not that we have met unkind people, it’s just different for almost everyone that none of our children are “accidents,” and I don’t say we are done having children, especially now that we have a boy. I don’t know what God’s plans are for our family, but I know I truly enjoy my children, and I would be happy to someday have more. We are so blessed.

I am certainly not saying that everyone should go and recklessly have all the children they can. We need to be able to care for the ones we already have more than the ones we could have. For some people, having fewer children is probably the way to best care for their treasures.

I myself sometimes feel that the wisest thing for our family is not to have as many children as I dreamed of before I became a mother. Because it sure can be hard on our bodies and minds sometimes.

But I want to make it very clear: children are one of life’s greatest gifts.

Just because I talk of the hard days and parts of motherhood, it doesn’t mean there aren’t blessings. There are so many ways my children are a gift to me, and it certainly outweighs the hard parts.

Ways Children are a Gift

Plenty to laugh and smile about.

My children have given me so much to smile about. They can get a smile out of almost anyone. Baby grins, toddler quotes, interesting perspectives, and so much more have made our home a lively place where we enjoy the little ones. God’s love shines through those little innocent eyes, and it lights up our own.

The way children delight in the little things in God’s creation, such as butterflies and other bugs, teach us to find delight in God’s gift of life as well.

Keeping our priorities in check.

Our children remind us of what is the most important in life. They remind us to slow down, and that life is not about how much we can get done. They remind us that souls are more important than to-do lists.

Teaching us so much about ourselves.

I never knew I could be so short-tempered tempered, so selfish. My children bring out the best and the worst in me and teach me what I need to change. 

Teaching us to depend on God

Nothing has required me to rely on God as much as having children. They teach us to depend on God for strength. The very fact that having children is sometimes overwhelming gives us an opportunity to show our children how to respond in tough situations. Our children should not feel that they are a problem for us, but I don’t think it hurts if they sometimes realize that we are struggling in our parenting journey. We can give them an example of apologizing if we fail, and of how to ask God for strength for the hard days.

Matthew 18:3 says we need to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. They depend on us the way we need to depend on God to be a godly parent to them.

When They Don’t Feel Like a Blessing

I remember one evening when my husband put the three oldest to bed. After several tantrums and crying spells, he came out of the room and said something about, “Finally the thunderstorms are sleeping.” We laughed, but some days it is hard to see our precious children with a smile.

Sometimes we don’t feel love for our children. In those times we need to remember that love is not always a feeling, it can be a choice. 

The very fact that God says children are a gift will make our enemy want us to see that they are not a gift or a blessing. He wants us to see that having children is too hard, and that having a bunch of children is not a good idea. He will work hard to make us feel that children are not a gift. So on the hard days remember what God says: Children are a gift. 

There are hard mothering seasons, but it is not the only hard.

Again, because I am in the season of young motherhood, I talk, and will keep talking, a lot about the overwhelm and hard days. After years of dreaming about being a mom, it caught me off guard just how hard it could be. But I know very well that it isn’t the only hard.

It is okay to say that we are having a hard time. The hard that others face doesn’t cancel out our hard. But sometimes looking around at the hard things others face can help us put our own struggles into perspective.  I haven’t had to face war, the death of a close loved one, extreme poverty, rejection from family, and many other hardships others have faced. I think of how infertility would likely have cost me many more tears than the hard mothering days have given me.

Positive Bible Verses About Children 

Psalm 127: 

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Save it for later.

Remember, children are a gift.

We are not entitled to the gift of children. But I am so grateful for these great blessings that God’s plan for my life includes. There are hard days when it is hard to find joy in motherhood. There is also so much laughter and fun that I get from my children. They are God’s precious gifts.

You may also be interested in reading about how you can be a confident mom and how writing every day can help you remember the good memories.