I’m not sure what brought you to this post, whether you need this message for yourself, for your children, or for people you meet on the street, but here it is: Your best is enough.

I know there are rotten people in the world, who spit gum on the ground, double park their cars, and truly don’t care about others. But I’m not talking to them. I’m talking to you.

You wake up early every day to make your child’s lunch. You drive all over creation to get your kids to school, yourself to work, your errands run, and activities attended. Many of your days, you end exhausted, wondering if your efforts make any difference at all.

And then there are seasons like this one, with more trials than usual. With so much out of your control, you feel completely overwhelmed.

Hear these words: You are doing your best. And your best is enough.

This is true of kids, too. Many of them. Sure, they can be patoots now and then, but most of the time, they are doing their best with the skills they have. Sometimes, kids are doing their best even when they’re melting down. And they might need us to recognize it for them.

One of the best stories I’ve heard recently was from another mom of a special needs child at Isaac’s school. She was out with her teenage son, a boy on the autism spectrum, and he was struggling. When a store clerk met him with an unforgiving response, the mom said simply, “He is doing the best he can. I hope you are, too.”

I might not have the wherewithal to say what she did in that moment, though I admire her for it. But sometimes I need that reminder myself. My child is doing his best, and his best is enough.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” (Click here for quote attribution.) And it’s true. I am. You are. Our kids are. That store clerk probably is, too.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. But I may be reminding you of something you needed to hear again. So be kind, friends. To people you meet. To your kids. And even to yourself. Your best is enough.

Pass it on.