I was at the grocery store with my three kiddos when the cashier scanned the three bottles of wine I was buying for a dinner party. She looked at me and said, “Oh, three bottles of wine. One because of each kid.” Then she chuckled at how funny she was.

It took a while for me to process what she had said, and I missed my opportunity to defend my kids. I was irritated that my kids had heard a perfect stranger suggest they are such burdens that I coped by drinking. Are children a lot of work? You bet. And, because we’re all sinful, we all have moments when we make it hard to live with each other. 

I’m thankful that my kids get to hear about their worth from a far-more-reliable source—God. In a book called Psalms, he tells us all, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him” (Psalm 127:3).

There’s a whole world out there that will put children down, so today is a good day to remember to say yes more quickly when they ask for attention, to react more gently, and to whisper more words of encouragement. Look for ways to tell them the gospel more, to remind them they have great value because of what Jesus has done for them. They are not burdens but blessings.

Also, a reminder that you too were once a child. That means you were (and are) a reward to your parents. Maybe you needed to hear that.