Dear Discouraged Moms,
I want to tell you just how very much I understand the pressure that you feel right now. It seems as though everyone around you is making the perfect memories for their families while you are simply struggling just to keep it together. Some of you are juggling the cooking and shopping with a baby in one hand, a toddler pulling on your pant leg and older children arguing about what we should be thankful for. Or perhaps you are faced with greater challenges like a home lost to a hurricane, a dying loved one or a health crisis of your own. Please know that you are not alone.
I know the pressure that is put on you from other mothers. Ones that seem to have it all together and expect you to as well. Though they may not always speak it out loud you assume it because you have yet to see them be honest. You are told that you must be in shape, eat healthy, have a clean home, well behaved children, dress a certain way, school a certain way, and cheerfully do it all in the name of The Lord while you Instagram, tweet, Facebook and blog every minute of it.
My friends, though the pressure may threaten to consume you I want you to hear me say one thing, "Our hope is not in what we can or cannot do." Our hope is in the One who has done it all for you. The One who announced that "It is finished" so that you can rest.
There will be a day that we will be out of shape, can't digest raw vegetables, and only have an appetite for crackers that are anything but gluten free. Our mind will not always be sharp and we will lose our careers. The children that we pride ourselves in will move on and may not even turn out how we had hoped. No matter how much we can do today it will never last and if these are the things that give us worth we have no hope.
Someday we will be thankful for the ability to sit on the couch because it is a big step from laying in bed. For some of us, although young, this is the reality of our days. We can feel that we are worthless because the world is spinning around us in busyness and people are telling us to join in when we can barely get the kids fed.
The inability to keep up with others is not always a laziness or intelligence issue. God has created each one of us with different gifts and different thorns; all to be used for his glory.
We must remember that our worth is not found in what we are physically or intellectually capable of but rather in who Christ is and all that he accomplished on our behalf. When we try to justify ourselves apart from the cross we either grow self-righteous or lose hope.
Our identity is that of a "beloved daughter with whom he is well pleased" not in what we've made of ourselves.
Be encouraged that you are right where God wants you to be and through his Son, thinks you are the best!
"A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice." Isaiah 42:3
Love,
A Mom Just Like You
We must remember that our worth is not found in what we are physically or intellectually capable of but rather in who Christ is and all that he accomplished on our behalf. When we try to justify ourselves apart from the cross we either grow self-righteous or lose hope.
Our identity is that of a "beloved daughter with whom he is well pleased" not in what we've made of ourselves.
Be encouraged that you are right where God wants you to be and through his Son, thinks you are the best!
"A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice." Isaiah 42:3
Love,
A Mom Just Like You
4 comments:
This is such a blessing to me. I have 7 children and another on the way. I love them all and am happy about #8, but I struggle with exhaustion and lack of motivation to accomplish much but surviving, feeding and clothing everyone and basic cleaning. The kids do help, and 4 of them are in school now which keeps the house a bit cleaner than when I was homeschooling all of them, but I still often feel like a failure because even though I work at cleaning the kitchen and other places, they are never sparkling. As soon as I clean a bunch of pots and pans, I realize there are more and the floor needs sweeping, but I'm worn out and the little ones will get crumbs or playdough all over it soon anyway. I love my life, my husband and my kids, but I always have a voice telling me I'm a rotten mother because the kitchen is never clean enough, there is always a scattering of toys and I'm not on a strict schedule like a good mother would be, just always trying to keep loving my family and doing what needs to be done when I have the energy to do it and my 2 year old isn't getting into things. Thank you for helping to dispel the voice. I always know God loves me, but I never feel like I am as good as creative organized mothers brimming with ideas and clean houses. Dont know if I made any sense but the blog post was excellent.
Hi Stephanie! Thank you for sharing your heart. Would you mind if I share your comment and respond to it in a post? I think that many women feel the same as you do and could benefit from this.
Sure!
Great, thanks! It'll be up tomorrow at 6:00am PST
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