Adventures in Parenting

I wonder what kind of mother Mary was.

If I was Mary having to be the mother of a Perfect Son like Jesus, I would be smugly bragging about Him to my friends. “My Jesus was already walking before he was born.” “My Jesus always gets His chores done, even without me telling Him.”

But the guilt would be overwhelming.

“I shouldn’t have nagged him about helping his dad.” “I hope he doesn’t take after my bad temper.” “Did I just yelled at the Creator of the Universe to hurry up?”

Every night when I tuck my son Jesus to bed, I would kneel by His bed, kiss Him on the cheek and apologize. “Son, I am so sorry for not treating you better. Somehow it doesn’t feel right to be such a lousy mom to a perfect Son. I want to be a perfect mom, but I cannot even go through one day without failing at something. Will you forgive me?”

Every night, I do, in fact, say that to Jesus. “I want to be the perfect mom. But I’ve failed my family in more ways than I can count. Will you forgive me?”

I am reminded this Christmas that Jesus came not to condemn us, but to forgive us.

“Yes, I forgive you for not being the perfect mom!”

That’s the Good News of Christmas, the Good News of Jesus.

Merry Christmas to all you less-than-perfect parents out there!