Jessa: A Parent's Most Important Role

We are continuing to share Jessa Seewald's responses to the questions you submitted. For those who missed our first three posts, here are the links:

Jessa on Pregnancy 
Jessa on Pregnancy Cravings 
Update on Ben's Career

And now for today's question...

What is a Parent's Most Important Role?
Jessa: When I think of the most important things I have seen in my own parents' lives, I would have to say that there are three things that certainly stand out to me: their love for God, their love for each other, and their love for us kids.

First off, their love for God. It was and is so evident by the way they live! God is their rock in hard times. They seek wisdom through His Word (the Bible) and prayer before making any big decisions. They pray for each one of us kids by name, daily. We attended church together on Sundays, and we would study the Bible together as a family most every evening. These times are a precious memory for me!

Secondly, their love for one other. They have been such a wonderful example to me of what a godly, Christian couple should look like! Like every couple, I know that there are times when they have disagreements, but they calmly talk through things in private—and not in front of the kids. We never had insecurities of wondering if they loved each other, and I never remember seeing them fight or argue. When we were young, Grandma would often babysit us on Thursday evenings so they could keep a weekly date night. Even through times when finances have been tight, they would go out and do something together-- even if it was swinging through a drive-thru for a 0.99 cent ice cream cone and then taking an evening stroll in the park—they would make sure they had that time to communicate and catch up.

As a child, I remember when Dad would come home from work and he’d sneak up behind mom to give her a kiss on the cheek! He’d always think of sweet little things to do for her like bringing home flowers, and they’d often leave special notes for each other to find. Back before the days of cell phones and digital photo albums, I remember that Dad always carried his favorite picture of Mom in his wallet. It was so sweet! He would always praise her to us kids telling us that she was the most wonderful woman on Earth, and we knew we were blessed to have her as our Mom! When we take family outings, it’s so adorable to see Mom and Dad still holding hands and so passionate about each other. I think it’s precious how they are still so madly in love after 30-plus years of marriage. They are truly my heroes!

The third thing that stands out to me is how they pursued our hearts. I know that this is not just something that “happens.” They were very purposeful about this! They would always make time to talk to us one-on-one, and ask us questions about how we were doing and what was going on in our lives. Growing up, I truly felt like they knew me better than anyone else! I knew that they cared about me deeply, and they were there to see me be a success in life and pray me through any hard times I might face! It gave me great confidence as a young person to have such love and support from them.


Photos courtesy of duggarfamily.com