“No, you can’t watch TV until your homework is done,” I told my 8-year-old, bracing myself for the blow back.

And it came.

“I hate you! You are so mean,” she shouted and stomped up the stairs, slamming her door for extra emphasis.

I sighed and reflected on the Anyway prayer, which is posted on the wall near my desk.

Mother Teresa has been credited with popularizing the Anyway prayer. If you have heard it, you’ll recognize it as the one that seeks to encourage Christians to do good even if the world doesn’t recognize it.

“Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.”

Reading through the words as a mother, it really seems to fit what we all face on our hardest days as we raise our children.

They will be ungrateful, accuse us of being too mean, too unloving, and quick to forget the good things we do for them. Our children will have bouts of selfishness and may not listen to our wise counsel. We will find ourselves frustrated, angry, judged and even struggle with forgiving them at times.

And yet, the most compelling part of the poem is the final line:

“You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”

Because, really, we don’t do the mothering we do so our kids will like us, nor do we do it because we want the world to see what great people we are.

We do it because we are called by God to do it. He has given us this challenge as a test of our character. And we are accountable to him and to him alone when it comes to meeting the challenge that is motherhood.

Whether we have a good day with our kids or a tough day, at the end of it all it is not between us and our children. How we respond and how we mother is between us and God.

So, I encourage you mothers, on the toughest days to breath and read over the words of this poem and I hope it will focus you on the eyes of your Lord rather than the challenges of the moment or the day.

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”

May God bless you.

Chandra Philip