If there is one thing I’ve learned since having kids it would be… BEING A MOM IS HARD! Mom is on call 24/7. A runny nose? Call mom. Someone isn’t being fair? Call mom. Oh, you can’t wipe your own booty? Call mom. Although we LOVE our children and would literally do anything for them… it can become overwhelming! At least once a week I have to take a “mommy time out.” I’d heard so much whining, fighting, back-talking that I just have to take a breather… Just step out of the room for a minute and collect myself before reacting to another thing.
My kids are really well behaved most of the time but they are still kids. They have understood instruction from an early age and I sometimes put unfair expectations on them. I find myself getting frustrated when they don’t listen the first time and saying, “Didn’t I JUST tell them to stop?! How many times do I have to repeat myself?!” There was one day that was particularly intense. I was to my limit and I had yelled at them to stop for the MILLIONTH time. Their little eyes looked at me hurt and my heart sank. I told them I needed to just go take a time out and I’d be back.
It was during that time out God gave me the most amazing realization. As I was crying, and just praying that God would give me direction, the question popped up “and how many times do you mess up ?” I just knew what He was showing me. How many times do we go through each day making silly mistakes we “KNOW” not to do? That person who hurt us, did we control our thoughts/tongues and pray for them instead of getting angry? That movie that doesn’t glorify God, did we turn it off instead of continuing to watch it all the way through? That JUICY NEWS that isn’t edifying to any person involved, did we hold our tongue instead of gossip?
You see, everyday we fall short and we “know better.” Isn’t it great our faithful, loving Savior doesn’t just lose His anger on us? Isn’t it wonderful that loving way He corrects us? He loves us enough to have given the Holy Spirit to gently nudge us as if to say, “My dear child, that isn’t what I have for you. You can make the right decision, come back home. I’m waiting but the path you are headed for doesn’t lead to me.”
If He can be so loving, so full of grace, so extravagant with us (that fail DAILY), can’t we extend that to our own children? Even when they “know better?” We get to teach these beautiful blessings to be Christians, CHRIST-LIKE, in even the most difficult situations! Mama, you’ve got this! Show the next generation that they can make a difference by showing grace, faith, Christ-like love and forgiveness.
We won’t always be perfect, neither will they. I’ll continue to show them that we will mess up. When we do… tell the truth, say you’re sorry, and love unconditionally. The scripture God placed on my heart when He showed me this was Mark 4:3-8:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”- Mark 4:3-8
This scripture hit my heart hard! If my children were going to have good soil to produce a crop, I was going to have to be the one to teach them by example! If my ground for my little seeds was anything but GOOD SOIL, how will they properly grow to produce?! At that realization every thing came into perspective. I prayed for God to change my heart, my mindset, and help me create good soil.
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this opportunity to share my experience and struggles with other moms. I thank you so much for every one that has read this and for what you have planned for them! God, I pray that You wrap Your presence around the mom struggling with what she needs to do. I pray you speak to her heart, let her know she is loved unconditionally, and she isn’t alone when she feels overwhelmed. Father just lift her spirits and help her be the mother to her children You have called her to be! I pray she is encouraged, a Christ-like example, and growing her seeds on good soil. I pray this in Jesus name, AMEN.
It Begins at Home 