Safe Places

Sometimes parenting makes me want to throw a fit.

Day in and day out of watching my toddlers dissolve into hysterics over…well…anything, makes me want to lie down and do the same.

But motherhood doesn’t allow for much of that does it? We wipe bottoms and we wipe tears. We dole out consequences and we dish out cuddles. There isn’t much room for a meltdown.

We are the refuge our children run to.

Meltdowns in our house are a funny thing though. You see, my sons are adopted from Uganda and they lived most of their lives in a babies’ home. What that frequently does, and did in them, is create what is called a lost boy’s syndrome. It means they know how to hold back the tears and crank up the charm.

It’s a way of surviving.

Around here? We celebrate meltdowns. When one of the boys throws a fit it means that they feel safe. Each tear is a tearing down of walls built as a fortress for survival.

I mean sure, in real life we have to actually treat fits for what they are. We address heart issues and attitude issues. We give hugs and we stand firm. But when the whirlwind ends and the little people have moved on my husband and I have been known to have our own little party.

For our boys, those hysterics mean that they feel safe. Somewhere deep down they believe that even if they throw out the worst, we will still love them. We will still keep them.

It is a parenting win of the most epic proportions.

Sometimes on those days that I want to throw a mommy fit I think about my boys and I wonder, just a little bit, if our Father feels the same way.

We will, without fail, have parenting days that we will want to throw ourselves on the floor kicking and screaming. I say, go for it.

Go to your bedroom, throw yourself on the floor and wail. Do it.

Cry out to God.

He is our safe place.

We are not only allowed to throw a walleyed fit to God, but I believe He delights in knowing that He is our safe place. When we meltdown to God it is an act of trust that says, “ Even at my worst I know that You still love me, I know that You will never leave me.”

There is nothing that brings more depth to a relationship than showing the ugliest you’ve got only to find out that He is a safe place for that. That He loves you and He will never leave you.

Find your safe place mamas and throw your fits. Have your meltdowns. Trust YOUR GOD to be your refuge.

“Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and fortress.” Pslam 71:3

To Connect With Kaylie and Read More Of Her Posts.

I like to share about all the glory that God shows me over at my blog kayliehodges.com. I write about faith, family, and funnies. I love to listen to stories, and tell tales of the beauty from ashes that is adoption, and often motherhood in general. I am currently working on a book about sharing lives and sharing faith!

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/08/09/just-a-little-perspective/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/11/14/when-your-theology-doesnt-match-your-reality/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/03/21/travel-otherness-and-our-kids/

http://kayliehodges.com/2015/01/21/going-rouge/

http://kayliehodges.com/2012/04/26/keeping-it-real-mean-girls/

http://kayliehodges.com/2014/12/31/911-panic/