But shouldn’t I feel bad about this?

Let’s be honest:  sometimes we torture ourselves because we believe we deserve it or that it’s the right thing to do.  I mean, shouldn’t I feel bad?  After all, my son isn’t serving a mission. 

Our church teaches that all young men should serve a mission. 

We talk about it from the time they are little.

I have a picture of him wearing his “future missionary” name tag.

He saved nickels and dimes since he was little (and $10’s and $20’s later on).

We’ve sung, “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission” more times than I can count.

He memorized all the Articles of Faith.

He knows the principles of the gospel.

We studied Preach My Gospel.

How can I possibly feel OK about his choice not to serve?  Does it make me a hypocrite if I feel at peace since I purposely taught him a different way?  If I truly accept his choice, what does that say about my own testimony?

All of these memories and questions swarming around in my mind reinforced the idea that I should feel like a failure as a Mormon mom because my son isn’t serving a mission… until I remembered that my Heavenly Father doesn’t want me to stay in a place of despair and disappointment; He is a God of hope and love (and it’s the adversary that wants me to stay mired in sorrow and grief).

If you’d like to find your way out of the negative feelings you have because your son isn’t serving a mission, contact me now at kelly@findpeaceinparenting.com and we’ll set up a free 20-30 minutes mini-session to see if you would benefit from my “Find Peace in Parenting” coaching program.