May today be its own unique story.
May we remember that these kids aren’t an interruption, a distraction or a nuisance. May we open our eyes to this morning and remember that the two sleepy heads crawling into our bed are a gift.
May we wash out bottles and fill them up with milk and extra doses of patience as we stumble through the pre-dawn dark without our contact lenses and lean over baby beds to whisper good mornings and offer comfort and welcome for the day.
May we find joy in what delights our children as you, Lord, delight in us.
May we make breakfast, lunch and dinner and feed them heaped helpings of love sandwiched between Graham crackers and grace.
Give us the strength to hold onto our run away tempers with both hands. Give us the wisdom and the will power to take our own time outs and a sense of humor when we’re about to lose it.
Remind us that we’re the grown up and give us the strength to act like it.
Help us load the right words in between the loads of laundry today.
And for all those hours spent working and commuting and living the day out in a cubicle away from our kids, please parent our tiny treasures wrapped up in skin with your Holy Spirit and His grace in our absence.
Because when our kids are with the Father they are held when we can’t hold them. They are sung over when we can’t sing to them. They are beloved when we aren’t there to love them.
Help us not to rush through today or to wish it over.
Help us to open our arms to all the stop-go, stop-go, stop-go pace of parenting.
Teach us to take time to focus on what matters to a four year old.
Give us eyes to see the wonder in a sidewalk chalk masterpiece.
Unwrap the mystery and miracle of these tiny humans you’ve interrupted our lives with so that we can see all that eternity walking around with skin on right here in our messy living rooms.
Remind us to dance.
Remind us that the laundry and the crumbs and the dirty sofa cushions can wait but that some days a toddler really does need to host a tea party for all her dolls and that being the guest of honor isn’t a waste of time, it’s the best half hour investment we’ll make today.
Give us eyes to see our bodies and waistlines and grey hairs through your lens – the glory of having co-created life with you – and that life needs room to grow.
May we love who we are growing into because of these children.
May we love the way they help us forget ourselves.
May we look up from our to-dos long enough to remember who we’re doing it all for.
And tonight, when we tumble back into bed, and wonder what we got done today, may we hear your words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” and be satisfied.
As a working mom who is in too much debt to be a SAHM – I needed the part about the Father holding my baby when I am not there. That little passage *almost* makes me glad to drop of my darlings at daycare.
Amen and amen. Beautiful words to brighten up a dark morning. I always thought that Thursdays are the most difficult days. We are exhausted from the week, but it’s not…quite…over… :) Thanks for sharing. Just what I needed!
Yes!! I so needed this reminder as we are still trying to find our summer grove and remember how to be together all.day.long. Thank you : )
This almost brought me to tears this morning. I think you were speaking directly to me. It was a particularly stormy morning in my household as my daughter kicked and screamed her way through most of the morning routine. The feelings of anger and frustration boiled over in mom and daughter alike. Weary mama doesn’t even begin to cover it, but you brought hope and relief into my inbox and my world. I’m very very grateful for that! I hope I can use your thoughts today to sweep away the storm clouds and start again.
“May we love who we are growing into because of our children.” Yes! That is now my prayer for today -that I delight in that growth! XO
Ohhh… i wish i would have read this first thing this morning. Three-four hours ago would have been wonderful. In the meantime. I “messed up” (this morning) … and now I get to feel, hear my Father’s love and singing over me! Kissing the boo boos away.
His grace is greater than all our sin! At the end of the day… I want to hear his whisper of “well done”. Now rest…
Oh, I so needed this reminder today! Thank you for allowing God to use you to speak to me today!
Thank you for the prayer Lisa-Jo! Though I am beyond the bottles, tea-parties and tantrums (except for my own internal ones, of course), teens require a whole new set of schedules, to-dos and attitude adjustments – again on my part… Thank you for the reminder to be grateful for the time we have, and to remember the One who holds us close and carries us, so we can hold others and carry them. . . :)
I met today with one of my favorite mothers. A women in her mid thirties with two young of her own (and currently pregnant) who took in a teenage boy in need this past December. She has had many weary moments over the last few months while juggling so much but she is a huge encouragement to me. I spent time writing about her on my blog this afternoon after being so moved by her faithfulness and obedience to the Lord in the way she loves her family. To all weary moms, you are doing important work shaping this precious young lives.
Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed to read this today. :)
As my oldest approaches 18 and marriage each day we attempt to slow it down.
Dearest Moms, as a mother of four grown adults, the youngest 24, I will say do not wish the time away, as, soon you will be saying where did the years go. I remember just like yesterday, when I was blessed with my fourth child, did not call it that at the time during my weary Thursdays, and ten years younger than my third, did not know that today I would look back with such pride and joy at the lives I helped to shape.
So hold on knowing that it will get better, knowing that you are the co-creator of the greatest masterpiece. Take it from someone who can say I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, but the whisper of “Mom you are the greatest”, makes it all worth the temporary pain.