Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. There have been days when I get in bed at the end of a long 15 hours and feel like I have barely survived. However on these days of just surviving I feel guilty for all I have not been able to do with my children simply because of my attitude of just needing to get through.
Just finish the dishes. Just fold that pile of laundry. Just think of something to make for dinner.
While every task we do is important and necessary for the smooth function of a house, we often get bogged down in so much of the doing that our focus is on having to do it rather than getting to do it.
Parenting is just about the most selfless thing you can do. Especially when your children are young and depend on you for everything, their needs come first. They eat before you do, sleep before you do. If they are cranky from a new tooth coming in you battle through with them.
But while motherhood is difficult it is also a joy and a privilege. We are entrusted with these little ones to lead them to Christ, to be an example. In Deuteronomy 6 parents are given a series of commands that they are to pass on to their children.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deut. 6:5-7)
Here we see the greatest call of parenting: to teach them diligently. But not just anything. We are to teach them to love God not only during family devotionals or when we walk into church together. It is to be a constant, continuous example of loving God in everything we do. Our children should not just hear of our love for God; they should see it in our actions.
Living in survival mode takes the joy out of parenting. We frantically try to do it all and get frustrated when we get nothing done. It also shows our children what is most important and who we are relying on. I’ll be the first to admit I usually don’t have the energy or strength to get done what I need to in a day. And some days it takes me longer than I would like to get the house in order. But as long as I’m doing what God has called me to as a mom and wife and my family knows I love and care for them, I’m doing the most important thing.
Photo by Heather Schwartz on Unsplash