What's the BEST part of Parenting?

I used to dream of the day when I would be a mother. I would imagine the kids coming home from school and I'd have hot baked homemade cookies waiting for them. I'm guessing my kids would tell you that happened maybe twice. I imagined us laying on pillows, reading books, playing dolls, and laughing. I'm thinking if you asked my kids they'd say that happened maybe - uh, never - or with their daddy. I would imagine helping get them ready for dates or proms ... Heads up they wanted to get ready by themselves - of course I did get to buy the dress and tux, but they got to pick it out and would have preferred with no opinions from me - ugh that didn't happen either.

The best part of being a parent - well I guess that depends on how you look at it. Seriously, the best part is that they all 3 turned out to be great adults. They are all happy and married, giving me Grandbabies like rabbits, and all love God. That's the best part.

So how'd we do it people ask? Well it was not because we were perfect parents. We were not by far. We made more mistakes than could be written in a blog post. But here are a few things that we, The Keeper of My Heart and I did right.

1.) We loved them. ALL OF THEM. Unconditionally. You ask them today whom "the favorite" is and they can give you an answer, their answer. The real answer-ALL OF THEM. We will talk about unconditional love in a later post. Crucial to raising healthy kids.

2.) Consistency - I must confess that Andy was so much better at this than I. He didn't care if they liked him, he wanted their obedience. I cared, I wanted them to like me. Guess who they showed the most respect to? Clue: it was not me. If he told them they were getting a spanking, they got a spanking. Three licks, with the belt. It worked to.
Appropriate discipline is essential to having healthy kids. Want to be a good parent - learn to discipline them.

3.) We communicated with them like they were people - not babies. Guess what? They were only babies for a short time.we were raising adults, not children (also for another post).

4.) We chose them over us. When life threw us curve balls, when there was more month than money, when our marriage was in trouble, we chose them. Selfishness does not belong in parenting. It's hard not to be selfish too. Really, let's face it, parenting is the second hardest thing you do in life. (I know you want to know what the hardest thing is? - stay tuned).

5.) SERIOUSLY, LOVE, really love God! Not religion, not a church. Love the God of heaven, the creator of the universe. Love God's only Son - Jesus. Grow in a personal relationship with him.

What's my VERY favorite, the VERY BEST part of being a parent. Knowing my kids love Jesus, will spend eternity with Him and that they get it, they really get the "Jesus thing". That's the best part of being a parent for me. It's why they have turned out to be great adults.