Promises
Before kids I had all the answers. You see the kid in the store throwing the tantrum and think, "That parent has done a terrible job training her child. I would never let my child get away with that behavior." Then you birth the child and realize how little control you actually have. They have their own personality, their own gifts, their own preferences, their own idols. The good, the precious, and the downright ugly. You reflect on all the ideals you had before you had kids. All the ways in which you would train them - all the scripture they would memorize, all the healthy foods they would eat, all the methods of discipline that would train them to be good citizens and make them polite to other humans. Then you begin trying these methods out. The battle begins. The spiritual warfare wages heavily in your heart and in your home. And you think, "nothing I do seems to work; where are the results that I was promised in all the books?"