Dear Weary Mom,
I wonder if you’re stirring something on the stove, listening to a podcast, wiping a runny nose, and making a grocery list all at the same time…right now.
Before 7AM…
I remember when my boys were really young, dragging myself out of bed, trying not to trip down the stairs because my legs felt like lead and didn’t want to move. With five minutes to spare before four little feet started pounding on the floor above me, I read a Psalm and a Proverb and asked the Lord to make it enough.
But sometimes it wasn’t.
Slowly but surely, weariness crept in. I didn’t recognize it at first. Dressed as a friend, discontent surrounded me and made me feel like I was the only one who had ever wondered if she should even have had children in the first place.
“Maybe you’re not cut out for this…” it whispered.
“You should know how to handle that…” it demanded.
“You’re a mess. You should be ashamed of the way they acted…” it accused.
“You’ve got to get a grip…” it shamed.
And before I knew it, my weaknesses began to pile up in my mind and heart until they were all I could see.
My thoughts went something like this:
“I used to know who I was. I thought I could handle anything. I thought I was strong, and independent, and that I could overcome whatever obstacles came my way. But this is different. I’m failing at everything I hold dear. The thing I want most in the world—to raise good, godly men—is escaping me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I just don’t have what it takes.”
I allowed my weaknesses to make me weary until my weariness completely took over, controlling how I saw the world, interacted with my family, and even how I trusted God.
Can you relate?
“How many times a day do you catch yourself thinking about what a failure you are, or how your one big mess-up will probably land that little person who watches everything you do straight in the counseling chair a bit later in life? How much of your day do you spend glorifying your weaknesses and wondering what will happen if everybody finds out the truth about who you really are?
Glorifying weaknesses—no matter how big or small—sucks our souls dry of the life-giving hope we need to just keep going.
But there is a different way.
I’m convinced that the place of our greatest weakness can unleash the power of God’s greatest grace.
Instead of glorifying our weaknesses, letting them control our lives and break our hearts, we can learn to use them to glorify God, confessing our weaknesses and trusting him to make them into something good.” (Unraveled: Hope for the Mom at the End of Her Rope, chapter 1).
Today, if you’re feeling a bit like what I described above—worn out, worn down, weary—may I offer you some hope?
There is a God who loves you, sees you, and wants to empower you with truth that can set you free to experience joy, peace, and even purpose in your mothering.
You just have to want Him to.
Stacey Thacker and I have created a 5-day devotional series based on our book, Unraveled: Hope for the Mom at the End of Her Rope, to help you get started on this journey of overcoming weariness and choosing to live a hope-filled life.
It’s called Dear Weary Mom, and is a series of letters from our heart to yours—a perfect place to find the God who wants to meet you in your mess.
To get signed up for this 100% free challenge, and receive updates from us designed to encourage your heart, simply enter your email address below.
Is there an available download of the first few days? I just saw this tonight and I ordered the book from Amazon but it says it won’t be here until May 13.
Hi Kristi! You could download a sample of the Kindle version onto your Kindle or Kindle app! That might help!
Could elaborate on what it looks like to “keep your child’s heart”
I’ll do the best I can, but my mentor Ruth, was so much better at it 🙂 I think at it’s core it just means to keep relationship with your child. As they grow up, the relationship changes. It should. But it doesn’t have to end. Having your child’s heart means they trust you, want to come to you, and will listen to you even if they decide to do something different from you. They value you. This isn’t something that comes naturally…it’s something we have to work for. I hope this helps!