What should I do with my persistent guilt that I’m not doing enough as a parent?

You know, we probably have to ask what's behind that question, and when do I need to honestly evaluate, am I not doing enough? Am I not present enough? Am I allowing work to overcome? When are there genuine failures versus when are there perceived failures? And do those perceived failures come from within me and my desire to do more? Do they come from outside of me, the pressures of culture, or the people around us and what they're doing with or for their kids? It's probably a good place to start, to say, where is this guilt coming from and is it valid or not?

And then, the second thing is, who defines that for me? And, we always have to come back to the fact that the Lord calls us to what we're doing and prayerfully asking Him, well, what does that look like for my family and my children? And I think it's just too tempting to look around and try to evaluate that based on other people, even good people, good families we admire. And basing it on outside sources, rather than saying, this is the family God gave me, this is the life God gave me. Am I stewarding it well? Am I stewarding it wisely? And then, I would hope, proper conviction will come where needed, and false conviction will be weeded out by truth.

Related resource: When Parents Feel Like Failures: How Jesus Quiets Our Distress by Lauren Whitman