I recently read Francine Rivers’s two-part Marta’s Legacy saga, (more on that in a future post), and something one of the characters said got me thinking. She said something along the lines of, “I never wanted my children to have things easier than I did.”

On the surface, that may sound shocking…why wouldn’t want a parent want a child to have things better than they did? But easier doesn’t always, (and maybe hardly ever does), equal better.

I don’t want my children’s lives to be easier than mine. Are there events of my life that I hope they won’t have to face? Of course. But I do want them to face hard things, because how you deal with those things helps shapes who you are. And you can’t appreciate the easy times as well, if you haven’t had to deal with difficulties.

I don’t necessarily want my children to have “more” than I did, either. Having more, whether it’s money, or things, or whatever, doesn’t make you happier, or stronger, or even more successful. “More” can also lead to more suffering, more struggle, more troubles.

What I want is for my children to be better than me. Better people, better friends, better servants…just better. If they are better than me, then I will feel like I have done my job as a mother, and feel that they will better serve the Lord and His people in whatever they do. And isn’t that really all a mother can ask for?