As a parent (particularly a mother), nothing is more important than listening to your gut.  Your gut will tell you things that you cannot explain to others and you can’t understand.  It will warn you against things and keep you out of trouble or unwary predicaments.

Case in point:  recently, we searched for a home in our new town.  We found a house that my husband wanted to buy.  I was unconvinced.  In the beginning, I didn’t like the lay out.  It was a tri-level and the upstairs where the bedrooms were concerned me.  It just seemed small.
 

However, as the days passed, my husband kept pressuring me to choose this house.  I tried my hardest, returning for a second look, but I just couldn’t do it.  My husband was furious at me.  We had been looking for close to two weeks now and he just wanted a place to call home.  We were living in a hotel room with three kids and we were all exasperated.
 

I told him I couldn’t explain it.  All I knew was there was my gut feeling that told me this was not the place.  I said, “I don’t know why I don’t like that house.  For all I know, maybe one of my kids will die in that place.  I just know I can’t live there with this feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
 

He relented, even though he didn’t understand it.  It was hard for him because he just wanted a nice place for our family.  Yet, I knew this house was not it.  God would put us where he wanted us.
 

Sure enough, two days later, we found a home on 5 acres to rent with a horse on it that I could take care of.  I knew instantly this was the place.  I could live out my childhood dream of having a horse, we could see if we really did want to live on a farm like my husband and I have been talking about for the past several years, and we could get to know the town and area and see where we permanently wanted to be without being tied down.  It was perfect!  It had a huge shop for him to tinker around in with his toys and a place to escape to and wind down after long days at work.  My kids had a huge fenced yard they could play in and my aging dogs could run around as much as they wanted.  We were both happy.
 

Patience (not really either my husband’s or I’s strong point) won out in the end.  Something kept telling me to keep looking and wait for my sense of security to return—to wait for a place I could call home.  Everything fell into place when the time was right.
 

This is just one lesson in many I have had in listening to my gut over my mind.  It will warn you against situations and circumstances that your mind will rationalize.  I believe you were given that gut feeling to protect yourself and those you love from potential harm or otherwise unhealthy predicaments.  Learning to listen to your inner feelings is one of the greatest life lessons you can cultivate.