I found it hard to embrace mother’s day this year. I was
feeling inadequet as a mother and physically tired. I arrived home after a day
with family and I put the kids to bed while my husband went into work.
Afterwards, I had a good cry. I know many if not all mothers go through times
of hardship, being worn out, tired and disappointed. That was where I was
at. I was feeling inadequate, inadequate to be a mother of 5 kids. I watched my
children play and thought of the mother I wanted to be. I hadn’t been that
mother and knew I wanted to change. I had been in survival mode. Our littlest
was 2 months old so survival mode is where we had been. Just getting
through the days without much planning besides surviving the day. Survival mood is
not where I wanted to stay and on that mother’s day I knew it was time to start
fading out of survival mode and living more purposefully. So after my cry I opened a book to get some
encouragement and read this,
The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1
I realized I need to take time
again to not just run through the day with my kids but to take some time to
build my house. What that means to me is that I need to take time to refocus.
Like any job when you hit a rough patch it’s important to re-focus, re commit. I
thought of my boys and all their planning they do to build the biggest towers or lego houses. I thought of the planning that goes into building a house and
the preparations. Yet to tear their lego house down or tower just takes a swift
knock or kick but to build seems to me much more thought out. So after my tears
dried I realized I needed to be more purposeful in my journey as a mother. Not
putting to much pressure on myself I just took 10 minutes to planned a few
things for the following day. I wrote down a flexible schedule of things I
could do with the kids and things that needed to get done around the house. I
set new goals, new schedules and re focused myself. I felt a bit more prepared and
had a sense of excitement with a new focus. I felt ready for the challenge of
building my house and investing in my kids. I knew that even if tomorrow didn’t go as
planned or the kids woke up sick that it was going to be ok. I am a mother, a mother that will keep
trucking along. I refuse to tear down my own house. I refuse to let my pity or
my sleeplessness get the best of my days. On that mother’s day I re committed
to the journey of being a mom to 5 amazing kids. I knew that to be the best
mother I could required a bit more planning and being purposeful with my time
and my day. I also, realized that some days are just survival and having grace
with myself is good but to get out of the survival mentality meant that I needed
encouragement to embracing this journey.
(Galatians 6:9 has been encouraging
to me as well in this time)
I hear ya Willie! That helps me too, even just writing a few things that I hope to accomplish. Also, some days I write a "this is what I did today list" when it seems like I didn't get anything done!
ReplyDeleteI love that idea of what I did today :)
ReplyDeleteI love your transparency and your ability to take a step back in midst of all the chaos to reflect. Your kids will be immensely blessed by your example of a positive attitude and grateful heart. You are an amazing mom!! XXOO
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sweet encouragement!
DeleteGiving yourself grace allows you to offer it to your precious family. You are not alone.
ReplyDeleteI agree Sharon. I need to remember to have grace with myself and my kids. Such a good reminder. Love and miss you!
DeleteAfter getting the girls, I had about 2 years of what felt like "just surviving". I still have my "surviving" days. Your body has been through a lot and it took several years for me to not feel "ancient". I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with my stresses but most important, compared to anything I can figure out how to do, is to realize that I HAVE TO ASK GOD TO FILL ME WITH HIS FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT OVERFLOWING so I can spill those over onto and into my children! I've found that he will give me His power when I have none of my own. When I am weak, He is strong! It is a blessing to your children that you are a mom who cares to ask, "how can I better build my house". Love you and was so glad to see you and your family this last weekend!
ReplyDeleteTammy I love your wise words love seeing you love and expand your family. You are an encouragement to us. It was a privilage to see you and talk with you over the weekend. May God keep giving you all you need and more!
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