Learning from Mistakes?

During my drive to work every morning, I often have random thoughts or set up my strategy for the day in my head. This morning my mind was wandering in many directions but became focused on parenting. Jacob and Zachary are 17 months apart so there was not much opportunity to learn from any mistakes made as I "parented" Jacob and correct them for the benefit of Zachary. I often wondered if the closeness in their age and my lack of mature parenting skills had anything to do with Zachary's delays. For those of you who are close to me, you know I am beyond blaming myself but that thought process is still part of who I was back then and sometimes I do go back. Doing so actually makes me realize how much we have all progressed and grown as a family and as Christians.

Fast forward 12 years when God gave us the beautiful gift of Ava. It was different from the very beginning. Not planned, carefree and easy pregnancy (yes even as AMA - advanced maternal age), only gained 35 pounds versus 60 pounds (yes, really), and the list goes on. Unfortunately, the morning sickness was the same. Even more surprising to many friends and family we decided not to find out what we were having. I am typically the person that is over prepared and can't handle surprises. Since my mom is not on FB or rarely reads the Blog, I can admit that I snooped with success almost every Christmas. I still cannot express the amazing feeling I had in my heart when we saw that it was a girl. I was truly expecting a boy. Thank you Kristin for capturing the moment for us!

Nineteen months later I am focused on the saying "mistakes are okay if you learn from them." I am an educator and I do believe that but the first step is realizing that you made the mistake in the first place. But what about parenting? As I stated earlier with Jacob and Zachary, there was not enough time to realize the mistakes, let alone make any changes. So I ask myself, "what mistakes did I make, have I learned from them, what can I do to make sure I don't make them again?" I do not seek to be the perfect parent or perfect wife, daughter, sister, or friend but I pray that whatever choices or decisions I make will always glorify God. How do we know that we, as parents, are making the right decisions for our children? Are we giving them every opportunity to discover the gifts God gave them and be able to use their gifts for His glory?