Encouragement for the Weary Mom

Have you thought about  leaving a legacy with your children?   Have you asked yourself lately “What will my kids remember the most?” when they are grown and out of the nest and beginning their own lives?

That’s a crazy thought.  I have a 3 year old and a baby on the way.  I cannot imagine my little people as big people!  It seems so far away, but I know it will be here in the blink of an eye.

A child who has a heart that is willing to surrender to God and fulfill every divine appointment given to him or her is a success. –Lysa Terkeurst

As parents, we are planting seeds in those tiny little hearts.   Tiny little seeds that, if our children so choose, will grow and be nourished by God Himself.

Parenting is amazing and rewarding and the best experience of my life, but it is also hard.  There are days I feel like I will barely survive.  There are days where I just want to curl up in a ball and cry.  There are days I feel overwhelmed.  Every mom is the weary mom at some point.

Parenting has made me cling even more to the Cross. 

Just like God needs to be the center of my marriage, God needs to be at the center of my parenting.  I need Him to get through those rough days.  I need Him to guide me on what to say to my child when he asks a hard question, gets his feelings hurt, or needs discipline.  I need Him beside me as I raise my children.

I choose to rejoice, not in my circumstances, but in the Lord’s ability to handle what I can’t, I invite God’s peace to invade that moment. –Lysa

There will be trials in parenting.  There will be days where you feel like you will barely survive.  There will be days when your toddler throws tantrum after tantrum.  There will be days your teen fights back at you.  There will be days your infant is sick and won’t stop crying.  There will be days you struggle internally with the choices your children are making.

What can you do?  You can put your focus on God.  You can rejoice in those moments because God is walking right beside you, guiding you to raise these little ones He has gifted you.  You can pray to Him and ask for peace.  You can ask Him for guidance in whatever situation you are in.  He knows right where you are.  He won’t leave you there.  But He will use that trial to strengthen you and grow your character.

When we face trials that drain us, we can take comfort in knowing that God will refresh and refill us.  God uses the trials to bring us face-to-face with the yuckies in our heart that need to be dealt with, but He doesn’t leave us in that hard place. –Lysa

I’d like to say parenting is all sunshine and rainbows, but it’s not.  It’s hard!  Not just because of disciplining and trying to build character into these tiny humans, but because their whole future is greatly impacted by the kind of seeds you plant in those precious little hearts.  No pressure, right?!

So momma, on those weary days, give yourself some grace.

[Tweet “I realize that, as I raise my little people, I need God more than I ever did before. @cmtsblog”]

Not just because I need Him, but because my children need to see Him in me.

Do your children see Jesus in you?

He tends his flock like a shepherd.  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.  He gently leads those that have young.  Isaiah 40:11

Weary momma, we don’t do motherhood alone.  He’s right there beside us to carry us through those moments.  He’s right there to guide us with the right words and the right actions.  He’s right there to show us grace when we don’t make the best choices.

He’s there.  Cling to Him.  Allow your children to see Jesus in You so that when they are grown, the thing they remember the most is that Mom loved Jesus and shared Jesus with them every chance that she got.