You are Doing Great, Mama.
Wednesday morning, Benaiah woke up at five am, right as I was hoping to get up and have some alone time with Jesus. Instead of enjoying some blissful moments of peace and quiet before another wildly exciting and crazy day started, my day began by playing with Niah on the kitchen floor and reading my Bible as he asked for attention.
It’s in these moments that I remember being a mother is hard and so, so worth it. Motherhood is a sacrifice of oneself. It’s putting down desires (i.e. my deep desire for a clean home, runs at a specific time, etc.) and learning how to go with the ‘flow.’ As I’ve grown in my motherhood journey, I’ve realized just how selfish I am, deep down and how good and merciful my heavenly Father is.
As I spend time with other mothers and as we share our commons struggles, I realize that sometimes it is just enough to spend the day snuggling, take time to go to the park and leave things undone. Sometimes, most times, the best days are the ones that are filled with intentional, focused time with Benaiah and less on the ‘must get everything done on my checklist.’ As a goal oriented person, I love checking things off my list and getting things done. And while that is not bad and even good to chase down goals and conquer dreams, I don’t want to be too focused on plowing through my check-list and miss those sweet moments that come and go so quickly.
I know Benaiah won’t be my little baby (now toddler) boy forever, so until he grows up, I am going to savor those kisses, snuggles and wait on the laundry. Yes, I have things I need and want to do each day (spend time with Jesus, Landon, run, cook good food for the family) but I also want to savor these fleeting days with my not-so-little boy.
So, mama, if you are feeling discouraged and like you aren’t doing ‘enough,’ (whatever that means) take heart. Savor the mess, enjoy the snuggles because it doesn’t last forever. There will always be time for cooking and cleaning and running errands, but these precious moments won’t last forever.
For me, keeping the main thing the main thing, helps put this all into perspective. As long as I love Jesus, seek to honor him, and love on my family, everything else will fall into place. Yes, it may fall ‘messily’ into place, there may (will) be long, hard days, and yes, there will be sleepless nights. But it is so worth it and mama, you are doing so, so well.
Questions of the Day
- What is the hardest part about being a mom?
- What is going to be the best part of your day?
- How many kids do you have?