3 Commitments for Moms in the New Year

I can’t believe 2020 is here. I know that over the course of the last 365 days that there have been highs and lows for you in this journey of motherhood. I am sure that there are memories that will forever be imprinted on your heart, and others that you are ready to bid farewell to. There is something about a new year that serves as a great reminder that God’s mercies are new every morning (or year) and His grace is unending.

I don’t know about you, but I need a lot of grace in this calling of motherhood. I need grace for the days that I yell. I need grace for the hours that I wish away. I need grace on the days that I am disconnected and more engrained in my work than I am being present with my boys.  Motherhood is the hardest calling I have ever had, and I just need all of the grace. Do you relate?

As we head into 2020, I am embracing the grace that God gives not only each new year but each new day. Every year I pray over a word that I want to strive for in the new year. This year that word is growth. I want to grow as a follower of Jesus, as a director of a non-profit, as a writer, as a wife, and as a mom. In seeking to grow as a mom, I want to commit to growing in three areas that will serve my kids well.

If you find yourself seeking grace and striving for growth as a mom in the new year, here are some commitments that you can work towards as well:

1. Commit to View Motherhood as a Mission Field
   Motherhood comes with sacrifice and a lot of mundane moments. I am a dreamer and my head is often ready for the “next big thing”, be not so willing to fold the basket of laundry that has been sitting for three days. I want to do big things for God. However, I forget that the most important ministry is sitting right in front of me.  Motherhood is a ministry, friend. Let’s commit to seeing the piles of dishes, faces that need wiping, and the babies that need rocking as the beautiful ministry that they are in the year ahead.

2. Commit to Be Present with your Children

   Of all the areas of motherhood that I need grace in, being present with my children is the area that I need it the most.  As a work from home mom, that also runs a non-profit and is a writer, I am often guilty of being disconnected when I am with my boys. (Also, let's not even mention the times that social media seals my attention). I may physically be in the same room as them, but I am not engaging. I am missing it. If I am not careful, my boys’ toddler years will be gone, and I will regret being so disconnected as the years flew by. Can you relate? Maybe you find yourself weighed down with household chores or distracted by what awaits the next day at work. No matter the distraction, let’s commit to set the distractions aside in 2020 and be present with our children.  
   

3. Commit to Live Expectantly

   When we begin to view motherhood as a mission field and seek to be fully present with our children, we will begin to see God move in incredible ways in the lives of our children. However, we have to open our eyes and live expecting God to work. I am guilty of getting so focused on my schedule and my errands for the day that I miss the whole point. However, I have found that discipleship happens in the little moments: the quiet conversation at bedtime, the lyric on the radio that stood out between errands, or the lesson on repentance when tempers are high between siblings. Those are the moments that God can use to mold and shape our children, if only we live expectantly.

I don’t know what 2020 holds for any of our families. I hope it is a year of love, growth, and fruit. It may also hold hardships and further days that require God’s grace, but I am certain of this: God will honor our commitments. He will take joy in our worship as we begin to view motherhood as a mission field. He will delight in our effort to be present with the children that He has entrusted to us, and I truly believe He will move and work in the lives of our children especially when we live expectantly.

May you and your family have the Happiest of New Years,

Stephanie Roberts
www.raisingtherobertstribe.com