Wait until….

It seems that that during my entire parenting experience, someone has been saying these words to me, “Wait until…” And they are hardly ever used in a positive way. I am betting that you moms out there have been the recipients of the scary “wait until” comments as well. Here are a few examples from my life…

While I was pregnant with my first: “Wait until she’s born; you’ll never sleep through the night again.”

When I was pregnant with our third (our first boy): “Wait until he’s bigger; boys will wreck your house. Get ready to touch up your woodwork.” (This is an actual quote ladies! I walked away from that conversation with fear and trepidation in my heart!)

When I had babies, “Just wait until they’re mobile; you’ll catch them on top of the refrigerator.”

Now, while I have elementary age students, “Just wait until they’re teenagers; you won’t believe the drama.”

Now, while I have flag-football players, ” Wait until they play tackle football; they’ll break a leg.”

My goodness! Why do people say things like this? Don’t they know that parenting is hard enough and filled with enough concerns about the future? I’ve decided not to play this game. After all, Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious about itself.” So, a long time ago, I made the decision not to talk to other mothers in this foreboding, warning fashion. I had decided that I WILL NOT start a sentence to another mother with the words, “wait until.”

But then this week, I read 1st Thessalonians 5:11, which says “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

So I changed my mind. I AM going to start talking to other mothers with that phrase, but I am going to use it to encourage and build other mothers up. Here are a few I’m going to try out soon…

To the pregnant mother: “Wait until she’s born; you won’t believe how much you will love that precious baby. She’ll smell so good and feel so wonderfully soft in your arms.”

To the mother of a boy: “Wait until you get to know that little boy. You won’t believe how fun and smart he will be. You will be amazed at what his mind will imagine to do.”

To the mother of a baby: “Wait until he’s a toddler. He will say and do the absolute cutest things. It will be wonderful to see his personality unfold even more”

To the mother of elementary age students: “Wait until they are high schoolers! There will be so many fun things to do together! It will be so exciting to see them start to turn into adults. ”

To the mother of the flag-football players: “Wait until they are tackle football players. We won’t believe how big and strong they will have gotten.”

Mothers, join me in using “wait until” to encourage the moms we encounter in our daily lives. After all Proverbs 16:34 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”