Bow and Arrows

"We fly the highest after we have been pulled back and stretched, sometimes even more than we think we can bear." -Mica May

This quote comes from an online article I stumbled across; the article was about moms with Down Syndrome children who started meeting to support each other and ended up getting tattoos together. The article was so exuberant that even I said to myself, "If my baby has Down Syndrome, I am totally getting a tattoo like that." The tattoo is simply three V's (signifying arrows) pointing in the same direction. (And I am NOT a tattoo person. Never before had I ever wanted a tattoo of anything. But that's beside the point because…)

More than the thought of getting a tattoo, this quote stuck with me. Whether or not my baby has Down Syndrome, the thought of having an eighth child in a less than eight weeks sometimes bowls me over. If I allow my fears and anxieties to take over, I would find myself hyperventilating in a paralyzed state of complete helplessness. And whether a person has one child or twenty children, don't all parents feel like that sometimes? My husband and I led a mini parenting workshop last night to sixteen parents who were at different states of helplessness. And they thought that my husband and I were exempt from this feeling. But ALL parents live in a state of worry. We carry a HUGE burden. We are constantly stretched. We may or may not admit this out loud, but deep down, we know that we are sinners and very capable of failing as parents.

So, what to do? 

If we lean on the One who gave us our children, He will also provide us with all we need. If we rely solely on our own strength, we will grow ever weary, anxious, and resentful.

A few years back, I used an Etsy gift card to buy myself a necklace with a small arrow charm. At the time, I had just had my sixth child, and I needed the arrow to remind me that, 

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

Psalm 127:4-5

Now, Mica May's quote reminds me that it is time to wear that necklace again. I did not anticipate having a seventh or eighth child. But no matter. I can have twelve children and God's promises will never change. He is the one aiming my "arrows" at the bull's eye. My task as mom is to be the "bow", the one who points my children in the right direction. And with God's strong arm, pulling me back and stretching me (sometimes even more than I think I can bear), my arrows will fly far, high, and true.