Dear Weary Mom,

Yes you.

The weary mom who feels unseen as you go about your mundane daily routine.

Day in and day out.

In the grocery aisle … maybe for the third time this week.

On the bench at your one hundredth soccer game {or in my case, tacking up a horse for the one hundredth time!}.

Making your gazillionth PB&J.

Changing your upteenth dirty diaper.

Your thousandth carpool line pickup.

Countless arguments over outfits, bedtime, vegetables, siblings, baths, chores, computer time, and new puppies … or maybe the puppy one is just me?

And let’s not forget the dishes and laundry, but you and I both know it wouldn’t do any good to put a number on how many loads we’ve washed! Oy!

Dear weary mom who may think no one sees you as you go about your day — day in, and day out.

I see you.

I’m a weary mom in that same grocery store, just one aisle over. And I’m on the soccer bench of weariness, sitting right beside you. PB&J? On my counters and on my hands. Dirty diapers? I’ve had my fair share. Carpool lines, arguments, dishes, and laundry.

Invisible weary mom who isn’t all that invisible — I’m warrioring along side of you.

I know how you feel because I too, feel invisible. My own life lost in the weariness of raising children.

But when the weariness begins to overwhelm you, my sweet sister friend, and you feel that no one sees or understands this oft times sometimes thankless career of motherhood you’ve taken on, take a moment to breathe in the promises of His Word.

He sees. The Father above. The One we’re raising these children for, and the One we’ll return them to.

He sees us.

As we tuck our weary bones in bed each night, let us rest in the fact — no matter what the day brought … grace, it’s all about grace — He’s smiling down, tucking us in, and saying “Well done today weary momma. Well done.”

Tracie Stier-Johnson

And now it’s that time again…every Thursday we meet here to share our hearts and be encouraged. We’d love for you to join us and link-up your Dear Weary Mom letters!

Mamas in the trenches of motherhood, slugging it out every day for the hearts of their children…they need hope. So we’ve created a fun way for our writers, and other moms out there called to give hope through their words, to encourage each other to press on and press in to deeper relationship with Jesus.

Each Thursday, one of our writers from Team Hope will write a letter to a weary mom—an encouragement—and post it here on the blog. At the end of the post, we’ll invite you to join us by writing your own “Dear Weary Mom,” post and linking it up. If you choose to participate, please consider the following things:

1. This is a family-friendly site. Please only submit a post that builds up and encourages moms. It can be funny, but it can not be crude or contain profanity. We reserve the right to delete offensive posts, BUT we also plan to pin our favorite to our growing Pinterest board!

2. Please include a link back to this post from yours so we can all encourage each other.

3. Please use the graphic above in your post.

That’s it! We’re excited to see what God does through Dear Weary Mom, and can’t wait to see how He leads YOU to participate.

Because the best way to remind ourselves of the hope we have in Jesus, is to share it with someone else.

My motherhood journey’s been a weary one. Like you, I’ve been sleep-deprived, emotionally exhausted, and physically worn-out. Yet my weariness doesn’t end there.

Maybe your’s doesn’t either?

I’ve carried a spiritual weariness with me for years. It’s a persistent burden and no matter how hard I try to get out from under its crushing weight, I find myself defeated underneath it.

This weight is a self-imposed set of motherhood ideals, super-great ideas, and the incredible examples of other Christian women. It’s the burden of the shoulds.

Good things. Great women. But not the ideas or ideals God has intended for me.

There is a great, familiar passage in the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus addresses the burdened. We weary mommas can gather much hope from these words.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

If you have a few moments, study these verses and make a list of what you see. (Psst…a simple method we teach in our Quench Bible studies is to look for “truths, promises, and commands”. What is true of Jesus here? What commands does He give us? What promises can we hold to?)

When Jesus addressed the “heavy laden” here, He is referring to those who have been placed under the burden of religious legalism. People who were trying to carry around their “yoke” of extra-Biblical shoulds. Rules originally intended to help people know God and honor Him with their lives, but these shoulds quickly became burdensome because no one can follow all the rules well enough.

Only Jesus upholds every ideal.

And this is why he commands us to come to Him, learn from Him, and take HIS light and easy yoke. I’m no agrarian, but I do know that a yoke is used with cattle, so they can pull together in the same direction. When we yoke ourselves to every great Pinterest board, every parenting book, and every “perfect” mom we see around us, we are placing ourselves under a burden of shoulds which are not intended for us.

Our intended yoke is to be side-by-side with Jesus — the perfectly capable one — who wants to bear the load. The command we need to follow is to come, learn from Him, and take up His yoke.

This is our only should.

So, ladies, let’s stop attaching ourselves to every great idea that comes along. Let’s quit pinning every good blog post to our “To Do” board and wishing for what other mom’s have. Instead, let’s focus on being with God so we can discern better what His yoke is that we are supposed to take up.

Let’s let other moms be what God has called them to be, and learn to admire and encourage them without taking on their shoulds. Because it is only when we are in sync with Jesus and His specific will for our lives — that the burdens of motherhood (and life) become light.

Who’s yoke are you carrying? Have you experienced the burden of carrying another mom’s yoke yourself? How do you experience rest for your weary-momma soul amidst all the should? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Anxiety is something that I have struggled with my entire life. I remember hardly sleeping as a child because anxiety was ruling my life. I was anxious about where my next meal would come from, whether I would be beaten again for not cleaning the entire house, whether my mom and dad would come home and get into a viscous fight. The cycle of my childhood was so unpredictable that anxiety was the norm.

Over time the anxiety was affecting everything from my relationships to my schoolwork. And no one noticed. I tried to control it on my own – but without Christ in my life (or home) it began to tear me apart. Anyone who has ever felt a drop of anxiety before can testify that it is not fun to feel that way. Anxiety takes you down roads that you do not want to travel with your thoughts and eventually your actions. Maybe you have been feeling anxious lately too. Anxious about finances, your child’s behavior, your marriage, or any number of things. Or perhaps your child or spouse are feeling anxious. What should you do? Pray!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Ephesians 4:6 (NIV)

Ephesians 4:6 spells it out for us. It commands us not to be anxious about anything. Not where the next mortgage payment is coming from, not if your baby will make it out of the NICU, not whether or not you’ll be facing a divorce, NOTHING. Is this easy? No, but it can be done. How? Through praying to God with great expectation that you will receive what it is you pray for – accompanied by an attitude of thanksgiving because you believe by faith that God will deliver on His promise.

One way that I have been able to overcome my anxiety is by training myself to immediately (no exceptions) pray when the temptation of worry presents itself. So when the children are acting silly and the house is a wreck, I still manage to have my peace because I give it all to Him. Trusting God with everything is a process, so do not beat yourself up if you seemingly “fail” at doing it. It is a lifelong journey that once you commit to, His love and faithfulness sustain you.

So the next time that you are tempted to be anxious, I encourage you to do exactly what Ephesians 4:6 tell you to do: by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And watch our mighty God come in and take you by the hand leading you towards His peace while giving you hope and the desires of your precious momma heart.

I am walking this journey with you sweet sister!

Carlie Kercheval @ Beautiful Motherhood

Dear Weary Mom,

You are not alone, your Father in heaven sees you buried under the weight of all that is packed into your day. He longs to meet you there. Nothing fancy, no eloquent words required, just you willing to listen and make the time. Even if it’s just a little bit of time.

I remember when I was a mom of little ones and lengthy time spent reading the Bible frequently seemed an impossibility. There just didn’t seem to be enough minutes in the day. During that season my time in the word mostly consisted of scripture hurriedly written out on index cards and taped to mirrors, cabinet doors, walls and even a steering wheel.

In the midst of the mothering that mired me, those life giving, love reminding, snipits of God’s truth gently soothed the harried MOMents. As I spent time meditating on selections of God’s word I learned a new aspect of God’s love for me. The scriptures I rolled around in my head over and over grew in meaning and were a balm to the bumps and bruises of everyday life.

The realization that God is available when I had lots of time and when I had a limited amount of time was truly freeing. Freeing for me and freeing for the box I had placed God in – that box labeled in depth study is the only way to find Him. God is bigger than my limited time and way bigger than my preconceived box.

Rest assured weary mom, even without time for lengthy study of God’s word, deep truths can be revealed by meditating on and memorizing scripture. Best of all, the lies of the enemy that hiss doubt and failure of life as mom are thwarted.

Written reminders of His love for you will lighten your load and remind you that He is with you in the midst of your child filled, work filled, home making day.

I hope you will bless us by sharing with us a few photos of where you place your Jesus Loves Me truths!

May you and yours be blessed!

Living for Him,

Tracey

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And now it’s that time again…every Thursday we meet here to share our hearts and be encouraged. We’d love for you to join us!

Mamas in the trenches of motherhood, slugging it out every day for the hearts of their children…they need hope. So we’ve created a fun way for our writers, and other moms out there called to give hope through their words, to encourage each other to press on and press in to deeper relationship with Jesus.

We call it, “Dear Weary Mom,”

Each Thursday, one of our writers from Team Hope will write a letter to a weary mom—an encouragement—and post it here on the blog. At the end of the post, we’ll invite you to join us by writing your own “Dear Weary Mom,” post and linking it up. If you choose to participate, please consider the following things:

1. This is a family-friendly site. Please only submit a post that builds up and encourages moms. It can be funny, but it can not be crude or contain profanity. We reserve the right to delete offensive posts, BUT we also plan to pin our favorite to our growing Pinterest board!

2. Please include a link back to this post from yours so we can all encourage each other.

3. Please use the graphic above in your post.

That’s it! We’re excited to see what God does through Dear Weary Mom, and can’t wait to see how He leads YOU to participate.

Because the best way to remind ourselves of the hope we have in Jesus, is to share it with someone else.

Baffled and bewildered, I stand speechless as I peer into the willful eyes of my barely teen-child I don’t seem to know anymore. What my ears have heard leave the lips of that child leave me at a loss, and feeling lost.

These are uncharted waters. Not the teenage years, because I have another leaving for college this summer. Her years blew by with only a gentle rocking. Imperfectly, I navigated those waters with her. Yet, as she nears the end of one voyage and sets to embark on another, there is still celebration and grace in her words and heart for her mama as she says her longing good-byes. And what mama wouldn’t celebrate?

But the one rising after her, has a way of raising up out of me all kinds of ugly, broken messiness I thought I’d long ago overcome. And these days have me wanting. Wanting for words I cannot find, for wisdom I seek, for direction that seems elusive, for understanding I crave, and for patience I lack. In this child’s eyes, I see my failure as a mama reflected, the fractures in my own weakened soul, easily defined.

And what is a mama to do, when she doesn’t know how to reach the tender place of a stone-hedged heart, and has succumbed to throwing stones instead? When she tosses her hands up and words too, voicing her own inadequacies, “I don’t know what to do. And not even sure if I want to do?” When it takes faith and courage to approach the Father with a twinge of wonder, will He take her again, though she’s recurrently missed the mark? What is a mama to do when she just doesn’t want to be weary and broken anymore?

This. Hold on to our “yes” to God. It is the answer to all of the above. It’s where every answer we don’t have is found. It’s in choosing God and His ways and His Word. It’s in that place of depleted strength and complete weakness when we’ve been able to retain our yes to God where His perfect strength is found. Precious mama, clearly, these words are for me, too.

Yes, to dropping the stones, see through God’s eyes, yet keep fighting the fight of faith. Continue to fight for the souls of our children knowing we are not wrestling with them, our own flesh and blood, but against an invisible dark enemy. And we take up those spiritual weapons of our warfare. (2 Cor 10:3-4, Eph 6:12)

Yes, to surrender. When we’ve come to the end of ourself, it is our surrender He’s waited long for, each and every time. When we remember it’s not about our inadequacy, but God’s adequacy, for our adequacy is from Him. (1 Pet 5:7, 2 Cor 2:5)

Yes, to sowing. It’s not our job to save our children, but His. He’s the giver of this glorious and powerful privilege of free will and the children ultimately must choose Him. But we can cultivate the ground of their hearts, plant the seeds and water and pray that He causes the growth.

Yes, to praying. It is the stand we take on our knees, and tears we shed on their behalf, where we will yield the greatest harvest. “Those who plant in tears
 will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, 
but they sing as they return with the harvest.” (Ps 126:5-6 NLT)

Yes, to believing. The wisdom we need is promised to us, if we believe He is still a generous giver of it, despite our faults and failures. (James 1:5-6)

Yes, to coming. He beckons us to come. And it’s in the turning to Him, and coming before that beautiful throne of endless grace, where we receive our help in time of need. (Heb 4:16) Though, I’m blemished and because I am, I come. It’s those lacking places He makes us whole, but not apart from Him, but because of Him doing the filling. “We are made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” (Eph 1:23 NLT)

And yes to putting our hope in Him again.“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Is 40:29,31 NIV)

Remember, precious mama who doesn’t want to be broken anymore — He takes the broken and makes us beautiful.

Together? Yes. Saying, yes.

Michele-Lyn

living a life surrendered

I’m waiting on her again. Always waiting on someone around here. My weight shifts to the side of my body with my hand on my hip as I linger, just waiting to lock the front door. Doesn’t she know we have to go? She yells down the stairs and promises she’s coming, with enough volume for the whole neighborhood to hear, and I can feel my patience evaporating, floating away straight up into the air. And I’m tempted to give in to how irritating and inconvenient this mothering is. Until she whips by me in a flurry and stops to hug me on her way out.

I scurry about my day, balancing the needs of five kids, homeschooling and troubleshooting whatever comes along. And one thing I have come to know, there’s always someone who needs something from me. And I can’t lie, it wears me out. I referee their squabbling and quench the fighting and I’m tempted to give in to the anger that simmers just below the surface.

As afternoon closes in, we’re behind … no one’s finished Spanish, music lessons await, and dinner still has to be started. But the clock waits for no one. The rush of the impending evening spins me more, as one son has baseball practice, and the other’s game starts as the first one’s practice ends. Most days the sheer pace of motherhood threatens to pass me by and I’m tempted to believe I can’t do this, that I wasn’t made for this at all.

But I am a mama, and it’s a job that never ends. Most days, the sheer lack of time alone weighs on me like a load too heavy for me to hold. And as much as I love my kids and my life with them, at times, from my perspective, I feel like I’m suffering.

The truth is I know nothing of real suffering. I only know my narrow I’m-a-mother version of suffering, and it’s nothing compared to the severe suffering of many others all over the world. I’m not being beaten or tortured. I’m not starving or imprisoned. I have food whenever I want to buy it, running water inside, with showers, and tubs, and toilets. My conveniences hardly end.

And while my middle-class American view may be selfish,

While I may lack perspective,

And while my use of the word suffering may be gratuitous,

Weariness is the form of suffering I feel in my desperate mama moments.

And if we really believe that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, couldn’t our suffering also be from Him?

That phrase ‘it has been granted’ literally means to graciously give, or to willingly bestow as a gift.

Paul says that it is not only a grace-gift to believe in Christ, but it is a grace-gift to suffer too.

Most of us don’t think of suffering as a gift, but the truth of Scripture is, as followers of Christ, He calls us to suffer.

And not only that, but to rejoice in our suffering…

God’s grace-gift of suffering is never without purpose. It is always for His sake, and for His purpose. It’s meant to produce endurance and character as we remain under it. Because suffering accomplishes something.

It’s similar to the way a piece of coal, over time, becomes a brilliant and sparkly diamond. It remains under pressure, and the process itself is valuable, because of the outcome it brings. Remaining under should cause us to rejoice, because of what we expect Him to do in us through it.

Be encouraged weary mom! As we remain under and look to Him, God matures and strengthens our character. In Christ, our suffering is connected to our joy, as we look forward with expectation and hope for what God is going to accomplish in us, through it.

Why am I so passionate about sharing encouragement with weary moms?

Because I am a weary mom, living with this grace-gift every single day. I’m in the trenches with you, and I know.

May you be reminded today, He loves you.

That He gives good things.

And that our struggles really are a gift.

Each day, may we remember how He wants to use our suffering mama moments, to make us more like Him, if we’ll let Him.

It is only our good and gracious God who could possibly take our weary and suffering hearts, and make something beautiful in us.

May we remember He is our hope, and may we be careful to give Him thanks for it all.

Jacque Watkins @ www.jacquewatkins.com

How have you been changed through suffering?

Dear Weary Mom,

What a week you’ve had. Between the mountainous laundry and the meals and the baths and the appointments, between the soccer practice and recital preparations, and in between the errands–when you forget that one specific thing you went to the store for in the first place–you’ve got to be tired.

I know. Me too, girlfriend, me too.

Be still. Just for a few minutes. Wait on the Lord.

I know we’re busy–we don’t have time to wait. But the thing about motherhood is, it never stops and so, we have to learn to wait. We have to learn to be still. Waiting is an art, really. It must be practiced and honed. Whatever kind of artist you are, you can learn to do this well.

Our calendars, all marked up with looming to-do’s, close in around us and suck the wind right out of our chests. Our weariness can feel like a sucker-punch to our faith life. It can be really hard to wait on the Lord when everything else is breathing down the back of that t-shirt you’ve been wearing now for 3 days.

But above the din of everything else that’s constantly vying for your attention, you must wait. I promise it’s worthwhile. I didn’t believe this, until I began to really practice it.

One day, during my kids quiet times, rather than sit at the computer, or clean the bathrooms, or start dinner, I went and layed on my bed. It felt wrong in every way for me to be still, when there was so much to do. But girl, I was weary. I needed rest. I needed the Lord’s comfort and sustaining power to finish out the day.

I waited there, just for a few minutes, I told God how tired I was. How it was more than just sleep I needed, I needed soul rest, I needed refreshing. It wasn’t a magical moment by any means. But He was with me. I felt Him. I heard Him whispering in my heart to bring this to Him more often.

I repeated this in the following weeks, not every day, but enough that I discovered the value in waiting–that the scripture in Isaiah 40:31 became very real to me. I got it. 

I know you’re weary. Take it to Him. Let God renew your strength. 

In the trenches with you,

Kris

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And now it’s that time again…every Thursday we meet here to share our hearts and be encouraged. And, oh, how AMAZING the last couple weeks here have been.

Mamas in the trenches of motherhood, slugging it out every day for the hearts of their children…they need hope. So we’ve created a fun way for our writers, and other moms out there called to give hope through their words, to encourage each other to press on and press in to deeper relationship with Jesus.

We call it, “Dear Weary Mom,”

Each Thursday, one of our writers from Team Hope will write a letter to a weary mom—an encouragement—and post it here on the blog. At the end of the post, we’ll invite you to join us by writing your own “Dear Weary Mom,” post and linking it up. If you choose to participate, please consider the following things:

1. This is a family-friendly site. Please only submit a post that builds up and encourages moms. It can be funny, but it can not be crude or contain profanity. We reserve the right to delete offensive posts, BUT we also plan to pin our favorite to our growing Pinterest board!

2. Please include a link back to this post from yours so we can all encourage each other.

3. Please use the graphic above in your post.

That’s it! We’re excited to see what God does through Dear Weary Mom, and can’t wait to see how He leads YOU to participate.

Because the best way to remind ourselves of the hope we have in Jesus, is to share it with someone else.

Have you ever looked at something at a garage sale and thought it would be perfect for something in your house? I love to scour Pinterest and get ideas. I {honestly} rarely do any of the ideas I pin, but the color and creativity feeds my brain and soul. What intrigues me about garage sales, is that so much of what is there, is considered of little worth or value, to the one who (once) owned it. Yet, the person purchasing the item sees the value in the piece and chooses to give it a second life, of sorts.

Sometimes I feel my love for garage sales (and even Pinterest) comes from an eye {and heart} that sees things that are perceived to have no value, to be restored and get a second chance.

Perhaps there are days when you feel like you have no value and might as well be traded in for the new model. Your “dresser” of a self feels scratched, dented, and the paint worn thin. Relationships, parenting, friendships, kids…they can all leave you feeling like you have no value, that you don’t know what you are doing, that you are a failure.

All those thoughts or feelings are NOT from the Creator…Your creator. Just as you lovingly look at your children and marvel in wonder at their perfect little faces, He looks at you, His creation, and knows He has great plans for you “plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.  Our God is the master of making things that others think have no value and giving them amazing value. YOU are that amazing thing. When you feel you have no value, remember HE values you. He made you and  loves you.

He makes your ordinary “dresser” a bright and shiny {fun!} green…for all to see. I’m praying for you today, that you’ll feel His pleasure and know the worth you have in His eyes.

Follow the Weary Mom Pinterest board for some great pins!

Kristi is a mom of two, grew up overseas (Central America), and loves connecting with women. She loves hearing about people’s lives and their stories. Most importantly, she believes YOU are amazing and is committed to encouraging you along on your journey. In between laundry, raising children, and making pb & j sandwiches, she helps out with Freeset, a group that helps free women from sex trafficking in Calcutta, India. Freeset employs the women in dignity, helping them to move from being the product, to making products. Kristi blogs at kristigriem.com

The great motherhood friendships are the ones in which two women can admit how difficult mothering is quietly to each other, over cups of tea at a sticky table with spilled apple juice and littered with markers without tops.

Anna Quindlan

Every Wednesday night we gather around a table in a classroom that is either too hot or too cold.  This little band of women, between six and ten of us most weeks, opens both the Word and our hearts.  In the past year we’ve prayed together for the husband who had a heart transplant, the custody battle for one of the sweetest 16-year-olds I know, for marriages falling apart, for children struggling through school, and now we pray for our dear friend who will have cancer surgery on June 4.

Our table isn’t sticky with spilled apple juice but it has felt the salty tears we’ve shed as we’ve prayed for big children choosing colleges and little children struggling to learn to read.  There are no markers without tops but we’ve used up the ink in our pens writing out the prayer needs in our families and the lessons we’ve learned on our journey through God’s Word.

We share what we’ve learned from what we’ve read and from what we’ve lived.  It’s real in that room. Sometimes real isn’t pretty.  Most of the time, real isn’t pretty.  It’s raw because the battles with our teenagers have left us wondering if we’ll survive. {Or some days if they’ll survive.} But I need real. We all do.

I wondered when we moved to this small town in Alabama after almost eleven years in south Georgia if I’d ever have those real mom friends again.  I sat in Sunday school classes and at ball games but I always felt alone.  I missed my girls, the ones who started out as mentees and ended up being my very best friends.  I had forgotten, though, how long it took for those relationships to become the deep kind.

I prayed, oh how I prayed, for a new group of moms to walk beside me.  The ones who would love my girl and pour into her but who would also love her flawed and desperately uncertain mom. When God brought them, it wasn’t the way I expected.  Not one of the moms in my group has a daughter the same age as mine.  One has a girl one year older.  But almost everyone of these moms has kids who are three or more years older than mine.  And most of them have boys not girls.  But these moms, these precious Word-loving, real life-giving women, they are exactly what I needed. God knew. He’s good to us that way, isn’t He?

These women are evidence of love in action in my life.  They love me well … they live out 1 John 3:18

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.  NLT emphasis added

Maybe you don’t have that group in your life, those digging-in-deep-right-beside-you friends.  I get that! I’ve been there.  And, I imagine at some point I’ll be there again.  But this is what I’ve found, when I trust God to bring the people into my life HE knows I need, it’s always so much better than when I carefully choose the ones I think I need.  Look around you, sweet momma, there are women who are maybe a little bit older or even a little bit younger, whose kids are a little more rowdy or a little more calm, who are surrounded by people but always look lonely or who are always alone but always seem at peace … ask God to show them to you.  He’ll surround your table with friends.  And when you’re weary, they’ll remind you about hope. And, if they’re really good, they’ll bring you chocolate.  :)

Sending hugs and chocolate from my sticky table to yours,

Teri Lynne

Who gathers around the sticky table in your life?

Dear Weary Mom,

It seems everything is an argument.  From the fact that yes, underwear needs to be changed on a daily basis to whether or not it is bedtime, there is a rebuttal for every request.  Please tell me there are days like that at your house too?  I don’t think that my expectations are too high.  I mean, all I ask is that the kids are in bed before my energy tank reads empty.  It’s nights like tonight though, that make me wonder if even that minuscule desire is too much.  too big.  insurmountable.  unattainable.

All it takes is a few moments of “impossible” thinking like that and my spaghetti-like female brain has me thinking that if I can’t even get the kids to sleep in their own beds or get dressed without arguing how could I dare to think that I will succeed in raising them?  How could I ever hope to raise Godly children if I can’t even facilitate reading a book with them before bedtime without someone getting in someone else’s personal space?

I’m tired of the ‘no you can’t watch that,’ the ‘no, you can’t eat that,’ and the ‘get in your bed right now and stay there or I will revoke <insert favorite privilege here (ie. iPad, Kindle, Netflix)>.

Nights like tonight are when the job seems too big, the task of being a mom too daunting, and the beautiful horizon of day’s end lingering too far off in the distance.  It’s days like today that remind me how much I need Jesus.  Yes, as my Savior, but also in the nitty gritty reality of my every day responsibilities.  These rough days remind me how very dependent I am on His wisdom {which He promises He will give if only we ask (James 1:5)} and how desperately I need Him to fill in the gaps in my parenting.  And believe me, those gaps are many.

But you know, He never asked us to do this parenting thing alone.  He didn’t randomly stork-drop infants into the arms of waiting parents.  Instead He chose us–child and parent alike.  He promised that He wouldn’t leave us alone in our adventures of parenting, instead He’d stand beside us and equip us.  (Hebrews 13:21 & Deut. 31:6)  No, I believe this Mom thing, this holy calling is one in which we partner with God, even when it’s as basic as instructing the littles on underwear hygiene.

From one weary mom to the next,

xo

Kristina

http://kjtanner.com/

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And now it’s time for our Dear Weary Mom, Link-Up! We were all so blessed by those of you who linked up here with us last week. We hope you’ll join us here again by sharing your hearts, your stories and your encouragement.

Mamas in the trenches of motherhood, slugging it out every day for the hearts of their children…they need hope. So we’ve created a fun way for our writers, and other moms out there called to give hope through their words, to encourage each other to press on and press in to deeper relationship with Jesus.

We call it, “Dear Weary Mom,”

Each Thursday, one of our writers from Team Hope will write a letter to a weary mom—an encouragement—and post it here on the blog. At the end of the post, we’ll invite you to join us by writing your own “Dear Weary Mom,” post and linking it up. If you choose to participate, please consider the following things:

1. This is a family-friendly site. Please only submit a post that builds up and encourages moms. It can be funny, but it can not be crude or contain profanity. We reserve the right to delete offensive posts, BUT we also plan to pin our favorite to our growing Pinterest board!

2. Please include a link back to this post from yours so we can all encourage each other.

3. Please use the graphic above in your post.

That’s it! We’re excited to see what God does through Dear Weary Mom, and can’t wait to see how He leads YOU to participate.

Because the best way to remind ourselves of the hope we have in Jesus, is to share it with someone else.