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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Don't Wait Until Next Mother's Day

This past weekend may have been the best Mother's Day ever.  It was just perfect (Thank you, Husband).  Rest, attention, family and friends were just the cure for my busy season.  I felt so taken care of and SEEN!  It was all the gift I needed.

But Mother's Day only happens once a year.  What about the other 364 days on the calendar?  That's a long time to wait for our people to celebrate this work and give us a day off!

Don't wait until next year, moms!  Make a point to give yourself breaks, as needed. It doesn't have to be a national holiday to establish periods of rest whenever the stress is adding up.

In the beginning of my motherhood, I never allowed myself to wind down.  I insisted that I could handle it and tried to muster through the workload. I felt guilty for going away for a night or a weekend and leaving my duties behind.  Handing the load over to anybody else just worried me.

Many meltdowns later, however, I learned that making time to just BE, is not a sign of weakness as a mom.  Resting helps us build up strength to keep going.  Taking care of yourself is your responsibility, and if you are finding yourself more and more edgy and impatient, that may be a sign that you haven't let yourself catch up mentally, spiritually, or physically to the busyness around you.

In Genesis, God observed his work and said, "It is good." Then, he rested.  If God thought it was important to establish time to "be," why don't we?

STOP AND SEE
Moms, look around. See what you have done.  Note the clean kitchen counter or the packed school lunches.  Notice the kids' clothes that fit and the stocked refrigerator.  You did all of that!  Your family is taken care of. It's good! 

WORK CAN WAIT
At some point, though, we have to let things wait until the next work day.  There will always be laundry to sort, wash, fold, or put away.  There will always be a dirty dish in the sink.  There will always be a paper to sign, a floor to sweep, or a pile to organize.  There is always work!  Let's set some limits on how much we take on and when it's quitting time.  Because when the alarm goes off (or the baby cries), it'll be time to work again.

MAKE MORE MOMENTS
Don't expect someone else to send you on a vacation!  They're not often going to remind you that you haven't eaten lunch or put your feet up for fifteen minutes!  Generally, Mommy's midday meal is hit or miss around here.  Breaks aren't scheduled for me at all- unless you count bedtime, which doesn't always work out either...so we have to decide when to make moments for ourselves.

Rest is your choice. You can take a power nap or sit on the front porch to watch the kids play.  It doesn't matter.

God wants us to "be still."  Quiet yourself to the whirling world outside and shut out the noise. Don't apologize for sitting down to read a book or renting a sappy movie now and then.  Make a morning coffee date just for the heck of it.  

RETURN REFRESHED
Whenever I have forced myself to get away for a bit, I have returned to my family more prepared to jump in and meet demands with renewed energy.  Because I've slowed down and separated myself from what can be regularly chaotic, I'm able to pick it back up with a little more perspective and patience. It is good.

So, have a little Mother's Day every day! You don't have to wait for someone else to give you permission. God has given us grace and freedom to find the joy in motherhood.  Rest in His care and see what He sees- a job well done.

1 comment:

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