An old post, repost – an encouragement for all my mumma friends for those days when the going gets tough…
Nothing is quite as hard and as wonderfully rewarding as motherhood is.
And for the life of me, I have never expected motherhood to change me — in my entirety.
Gazing into their souls, I have looked deep into my own, and fall on my knees for help from God alone.
Are you overwhelmed too by the complexities of this role called ‘motherhood’?
Do you struggle with feeling that the light of your life is fading away under the drudgery of what motherhood entails?
I struggled massively in my early years, and I think, I was floundering because I had no focal point. And when our expectations are unrealised, our emotional equilibrium erupts.
Media today will try to shape a picture of success for women based around the goal of attaining personal happiness.
But sit with this for a moment: no personal hobbies, exciting careers or wonderful relationships can ever fulfil the sense of security or significance our hearts deeply desire.
Because the truth is that: this void can only be found in One lover of our soul alone, and this vacuum be filled as we lay down our entire life — only to take it back up again in Christ, and this is the way to build a family.
Everyday we are bombarded with the messages that dictate what we should do and who we should be.
But were questions ever asked of what our children, the next generation, will be?
Are children truly a reward from heaven, or are they mere inconveniences on earth, encumbrances to what a woman can potentially become?
When we succumb to the idea that we women, can have it all at the same time, we miss being completely engaged and being vibrantly alive with the task of fashioning little souls and imprinting tender lives today.
Motherhood’s not a blackhole, and children, they aren’t a distraction of the more important job, but the most important job itself.
Can motherhood be both a calling and a career, and that every child looked upon as important, and full of godly potentials?
What will happen when we shift our paradigms and place children and the training of them over and above our desires for happiness, and convenience?
Sometimes we undermine the work that goes into making a home blossom and the effort it requires to organise a household. The price for that “freedom” and “independence” often sends us looking high and low to understand what’s missing in our family and in our culture today.
What if we place our desires for recognition, fulfilment, and promotion, and the beauty of perfectly manicured nails, and the pleasure of expensive holidays and the pride of completely clean homes at the Cross, and let our direction and perspectives find clarity from God alone?
Sometimes we may even wonder why seeming to have everything and doing everything puts us at a loss of really knowing who we are and what we’re meant to do.
Just try to breathe deep and remember this: that having children is designed for our holiness, not happiness.That by the sacrifice of our lives, a new generation is being invested into and built up to be.
And this is beautiful, and highly rewarding, and deeply satisfying.
Oh yes, we women can surely have it altogether, maybe not just at the same time, but definitely over a lifetime.
Having that, comes as a result of giving it up in the first place.
Society today would tell us that we can easily relegate the task of parenting to others, and they tell women that the drudgery of children and home will leave us feeling unfulfilled and unrewarded.
But bear with this: Motherhood is both sweat and strength, tears and thrill, exhaustion and exhilaration, trial and triumph. And your life will only multiply when you break it up and give them around. There’s heaven’s hope for our hurting hearts, let’s mingle faith and passion, and know this: God’s got our back, so you can step out in His comfort today.