If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same….” (excerpt from “If” by Rudyard Kipling)

Three girls, one room. Though it can be challenging for Ray and Willa at night when Gemma struggles endlessly to settle down, they have worked out their own cozy corners. When I saw Ray last night comfortably situated in her spot copying Ten Girls Who Used Their Talents, a collection of mini-biographies on powerful Christian women, I felt that surge of victory wash over me at a “parenting win.”

Cue mealtimes. They’re a beast right now. Just a beast. Even so, we do get a good laugh on occasion when we tell Gemma to take a bite, and this (the picture below) is her response. When she gives us “the look” it’s not disrespect. It’s true confusion that we simply don’t seem to understand how despicable food is. Clearly a chat with management is necessary. As cute as she is when she pulls this face, it feels distinctly like a “parenting fail.” The whole mealtime situation just takes the wind out of our sails.

Triumph and disaster are opposite faces of the same coin, Kipling did get that right. Seeking solid ground on either is a mistake. Parenting, work, ministry… every inch of our lives must be rooted in Christ, striving towards godliness. Am I utterly deflated by another mealtime that was hard? Am I puffed with pride when I see my child initiating her own head and heart growth? I must avoid the snare of both.