Do you ever have those moments in your parenting when it feels like it's just too much to handle? Whether the strain is physical, mental, or emotional, those moments can push us to our limits. It's at these times when the temptation to throw in the towel can feel overwhelming.
Like Esau, who gave up his birthright for a meal, we can be tempted to make some foolish decisions that we will come to regret. But even as parents, we're encouraged that in the midst of trials that seems sorrowful in the moment, to know that "afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11b, Legacy Standard Bible).
One of those moments for us came with some immense challenges in the transition to having three children that were accompanied by some health struggles for Lydia. Fear came to grip Steve, which led him to contemplate a path that would have been a regretful for one for our family.
It's in those moments that we most need to turn to the Lord and seek His strength. Choosing to trust in Him and not learn on our own understanding, when we feel like the task before us in parenting is more akin to feeding the five thousand with our feeble loaves and fishes.
What came out of this season for our family, was to think through family wellness from a biblical perspective. In a world that desires comfort more than wholeness and numbing more than healing, we began to wonder if some core assumptions about family wellness in our culture really matched up with God's design.
Psalm 139 says that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made . . . intricately woven in the depths of the earth" (vv. 13, 15, LSB). If we are God's design, than we are designed well. We are not some cosmic accident that is in need of redesigning. That's not how the world sees it. Rather, we are cosmic accidents in need of perfecting. Those are often the underlying assumptions that have come with modern ideas of health, which have led to a less than holistic perspective of caring for our bodies, the temple of the Lord.
If you want to know what some of our favorite resources are for holistic family wellness, check out our resource page here: