Parenting

TBy Thomas and Hannah Luttrell

The hospital lights were dim, and medical equipment hummed quietly. I (Hannah) was still groggy from my emergency C-section just hours before. Our baby’s heart rate had suddenly dropped, and I had been rushed into the operating room.

The nurse gently tried to rouse me again. “You need to wake up,” she said urgently. “Your baby needs you.” My sleepy protests that I had just survived a major surgery and needed some rest evaporated with the cries of a less-than-five-pound bundle whose needs clearly trumped my own. I had become a parent! Life would never be the same again.

A Challenging Responsibility

However dramatic or drama-free your induction into parenthood was, nothing can quite prepare you for the challenges ahead. “It’s incredibly hard being a parent,” admits Alyssa Truman, a member of Chesapeake Conference’s Spencerville church in Silver Spring, Md., mother of three teenage daughters and assistant communication director for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. “I have to balance the needs of my children with the needs of my spouse, [Trent], the demands of work— and still make time for self-care!”

Ruben Gandia, also a Spencerville member and an attorney who is father to Mateo, 8, and Ana Sofia, 5, says, “There’s a lot of joy but also a lot of worry. There is a new level of anxiety and exhaustion that I never experienced before having kids!”

His wife, Claudia Pina, a stay-at-home mom, agrees. “It’s rewarding but demanding. … Being a parent is such a huge responsibility to … make sure they turn out well—a responsibility not just to them but to God who entrusted them to us.”

Meet our Contributors

Thomas Luttrell is a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist and an associate professor of psychology and counseling at Washington Adventist University. Hannah Luttrell is a producer for Hope Channel and a freelance writer. They are the proud parents of Caleb, 5, and Luke, 2, and run an online parenting support group at facebook.com/groups/ parentingparadigm.

Trying to control an autonomous “mini-me” with a firm opinion of their own is much easier said than done, and it doesn’t get any easier, says Alyssa. “My teenagers have told me things that were honestly challenging to hear as a parent, but I try and make sure my first response is always, ‘I love you.’ I want them to know that their behavior is not a condition for my love.”

Nancy Hwang, a member of Chesapeake Conference’s Westminster church who homeschools her son, Caleb, 14, and two daughters, Mary, 12, and Martha, 8, adds, “Being a parent is very humbling. When you see how even Bible characters like Abraham sinned, you wonder, How do I avoid passing my own failings down to my kids? ”