“Are you weary friend? Do you feel you don’t measure up? Do you know her? Does she seem to point her finger at you?”
Almost every morning, just before I need to get up, my anxiety sets in. Oh yes! I am weary. And I feel like I don’t measure up. Can I deal with another day of this life? Most of the time I don’t think I can and I wish I could just go back to sleep.
As I am writing this it is 2 pm and I am still in my pajamas,there are toys strewn about and the dining table is adorned (not by a pretty lace tablecloth) but with paper, crayons, color books, more toys, anything can be lurking there. Then the kitchen, don’t even go there and the laundry room yikes!!! A lot of the time I don’t really notice it because I live here but sometimes I think “what if I had an unexpected guest stop by?” Or, “what would my mother think?”
I had once heard the question, “Have you seen the show, How Clean is your House?” Yep, she compared my house to that. Have any of you heard of that show? It’s the one where these two English ladies come and go through your house and one of them tests stuff for bacteria etc. Then they have a cleaning crew come in and clean it from top to bottom. It hasn’t been on for a while but I used to watch it and some of the homes were pretty gross. To have her say that to me was a big blow.
My situation at that time was that we lived in an upstairs apartment and I was very pregnant with my daughter. The garage and laundry were downstairs and after a while I just couldn’t keep going up and down the stairs all day so I didn’t…and stuff piled up. I needed help but no one helped me so I just let things go. I remember when I still was under my parents’ roof and every Friday was cleaning day. We would clean the house from top to bottom. I was the youngest of 6 so when we cleaned, it stayed clean. There were no littles messing everything up behind us as we cleaned. Know what I mean? I am sure that you do. I don’t know what the house looked like when she had littles running about. I have three brothers and two sisters. It may have looked like mine does now…and she was probably weary too.
“Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest”Matthew 11:28
Lara Volkoff is a wife and mother to two sweet blessings whom she homeschools. She writes about her faith, her family, motherhood and her homeschooling journey on her blog at Learning Through My Eyes and can also be found on Facebook encouraging homeschooling moms of challenging children.
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Week Three Links:
- Monday – Chapter 3: Stacey’s Video Post
- Wednesday – Chapter 3: When You Don’t Measure Up by Megan
- To see all of the posts for this study so far, you can view them here.
And now for our Friday Link-Up!
Here is your opportunity to tell YOUR story! Will you share your heart and bless another mom?
- How did God meet you in your days this week?
- How often do you catch yourself comparing your home, job, income, parenting or even your faith with someone else?
- What has Jesus been speaking to your heart lately?
Please leave a link back to Hope For The Weary Mom somewhere in your post so other moms can find us here too. So, go ahead and link-up your blog posts and please feel free, as always, to share your heart in the comments below.
Oh friend, I hurt for you that your ‘friend’ said such a thing to you in a weary moment. Why do people say unhelpful things when we really need a hand or hug?
You are right to point us to laying it all down at the feet of Jesus!
Thank you!
I hear you about the anxiety! I am trying not to let it take over and give it to God. That is one of my weaknesses that I am trying to lay at His feet every morning! Thank you for sharing your heart and be blessed:)
Morning weary mamas. I am battle torn this morning friends. Weary. I have a child whose heart I just can’t seem to grab. Would you pray for me?
Lara – I get it friend. I don’t feel that my house is that bad…most days I feel like it’s pretty good. But I have a friend whose house is always immaculate, and she has more children than me! I look at hers, and I look at mine, and I have to fight not to compare.
Let’s hang in there mamas – in His strength we can overcome!
Oh, I have a friend who is polar opposite of me. Guess what? We’ve always have gone over to her house. She is a newer friend but her house is always great and she has one more kid than I do. We are going over there to dinner tonight. Thank goodness, because as I write this there are shoes, clothes, and wrappers from something strewn across the living room floor, dishes left over from breakfast still on the table, a pile of dishes sitting and waiting to be washed, oh and I haven’t mentioned the toothpaste all over the bathroom sink left from my dear daughters or the mountain of laundry yet to be done.
I am weary too. But through this process I am learning to be ok with my situation. I will get all of it done as long as I am not hard on myself. If I beat myself up I will just resort to reading a book and munching on junk food all day…no good!!
Yes not nice of the “friend”. I’m glad I am not alone. Anxiety stinks!! It is hard for me to share my heart like that. Thanks for the encouragement!! And Brooke you will be in my prayers too. And I ask for prayers of strength and wisdom to get through yet another roller coaster ride. I’m tired.
I am always comparing myself to others – to the mom with a child with sensory issues who never yells while I sit at the playground and yell across it to my boys; to the homeschooling family who has some activity every day (some days more than one) and yet still manages to get more school done than us who never go anywhere; to the family member who cleans for a living; to the women I see who have such nicer clothes while I have 1 t-shirt without holes and only 1 nicer shirt to wear out; to the people who have friends to get together with and walk through life with. Yes, I compare and I envy. I know it’s wrong and I turn to God when I really catch myself. But……
They are all standing there judging me. They can see in big glaring lights why I don’t measure up to them. They know my weakness and expose it.
I want to be content with myself. To be OK with me but it’s hard to do.
I think I need to go back and re-read this chapter.
Kori, You wrote “If I beat myself up I will just resort to reading a book and munching on junk food all day…no good!!”. This is me. This is what I realized I do. I get so overwhelmed with everything going on, waiting for me, that I end up doing nothing. Then even more shame rolls in.
We are in the middle of a very stressful, emotional issue and everything is weighing heavier on me. Please pray for me and my little family.
Nicole,
I will pray for you & your family!
Blessings~