Your Kids Need You - there is no better mom for the job
It doesn’t get easier.
From diapers to diplomas we all think the mom next door is doing this motherhood thing way better than we are.
Somehow I thought I’d grow out of the feelings of inadequacy as a mom but as my children have gotten older those ugly emotions have only gotten worse. I have actually never felt more vulnerable and incapable as a mom than when my kids entered the tween and teen years. But I have also never felt surer that God has me right where he wants me- fully and utterly dependent on Him.
Motherhood is unpredictable but soul-changing if we surrender to the work God wants to do in us.
I love this excerpt from No Better Mom for the Job that perfectly sums up motherhood (and yes, I’m pretty sure I’m the mom in the yoga pants she is describing),
Because very little, if anything at all, about your life feels super or heroic.
Maybe you spent your morning evaluating whether your kid’s snot was still too green to qualify for child-care drop-off at the gym or church nursery. Maybe you were commiserating with friends about stretch marks and droopy boobs over waffle fries and iced coffees while your kids flapped around like screeching pterodactyls. Maybe you spent all day at the pediatrician’s office trying to get the right diagnosis, or at occupational therapy praying your child would make another breakthrough, or at the Department of Child and Family Services while your foster daughter visited with her birth family. Maybe you haven’t left your house in two weeks because you’re trying to pump enough milk to pack your freezer before you go back to work, and your nipples are so raw you need a vat of Lanolin, stat.
I get it. And because I get it, I would lean in close, careful not to spill my coffee—I’m clumsy like that—and look you right in your beautiful, tired eyes and tell you that you’re doing a remarkable job! You with the unwashed hair and five-day-old yoga pants that have never touched a yoga mat. You with the designer diaper bag and struggling spirit. You with the easy smile and hidden pain. You. Right there. You are a good mom. Not just that, you are the right mom for the job.
How do I know? Because God doesn’t make mistakes. God who formed the stars and breathed life into dry bones, God who spoke the heavens into place, numbered the grains of sand and counts the strands of wispy hair on your baby’s head. The One who loved you and me and this messy world enough to save us from ourselves, our sin, by sending His precious, beloved Son to live and love and die for humankind—Him, that God, our God, doesn’t make mistakes.
So if you wear the badge of mother—by planned pregnancy or unexpected blessing or the joy-pain of adoption—then you can wear it knowing your Maker made it especially for you. No mistakes. And the one who calls you Mom wasn’t a mistake either. You were planned for him and he for you. You were part of her story all along. And God writes the very best stories.
Maybe you are reading this today doubting that God could use you in the life of your child. Yeah, maybe yesterday didn’t look so pretty, but that doesn’t negate today and it certainly doesn’t mean you should just chuck it all and give up ever getting it right.
God chose you to be the mom your kids need.
Your kids need you.
If you need a good dose of mom encouragement and truth may I recommend a beautiful book by Author Becky Keife? No Better Mom for the Job is REAL. That is the one word I would use to describe it. Becky is the friend and cheerleader every mom needs. Her down to earth story-telling, authentic encouragement and unabashed truth-telling is refreshing. Here is what you can expect from this book:
No Better Mom for the Job is for any mom who has ever felt inadequate-who loves her kids fiercely but sometimes thinks another mom would do a better job in her shoes. Becky Keife has learned along the way that it doesn’t work to try to do more or be better. Confidence comes from leaning on the One who made you a mother. You will discover how to: exchange negative internal dialogue for joyful gratitude, identify and celebrate your one of a kind mom strengths, establish boundaries that set you and your child up for success, recognize evidence of God’s work in your life and growth in your kids and much more. Each chapter also includes one simple action step and powerful prayer. LOVE this book!
You can grab your copy of No Better Mom for the Job: Parenting with Confidence (even when you don’t feel cut out for it) below!
XO,
Ruth
Disclosure: This post is in partnership with Bethany House Publishers. All opinions are 100% my own.
Share this post:
