Combining motherhood and pursuing God oft times leaves me feeling like I’m in some sort of a daze!
With that I mean…
Motherhood on many days may leave my mind too scrambled and my attention too frazzled to focus on anything worthy spiritually – and I simply forgot where I was with God the last time I spoke to Him, if I did speak to Him!
“What was it I was trying to pray, Lord? I’ve completely forgotten while trying to gulp my morning coffee down before rushing in with the morning chores and getting interrupted with the kids’ chirpy morning choruses and the long drive to school begins…
Where did we leave off, Lord? I now am back from a busy morning 15 minutes before my next huge assignment begins and what were you trying to say to me again? I forgot… did You even say anything, or was it mainly a monologue with me jabbering away while You were busy calming me down so that You can get a Word in?
What am I supposed to be reading now Lord? Here I am at the end of a busy day, with my heart hungering for You but my body too exhausted to even think…I have no clue whatsoever of what Your will for me is, in this busy season of life. Is this going to be the pattern for the rest of my life?”
Definitely, it does NOT have to be!
But you get the picture, don’t you? In a busy stage of life as this, with the perpetual act of caring and nurturing your little ones, you may easily forget how to set some personal goals in order to grow in the different areas of life, including your marriage, your professional goal, your health/fitness and the various interests and hobbies you may have before the kids come in.
And, it is very easy to forget how to develop a meaningful walk with God which is actually our biggest and most important relationship of all.
When the kids come in, time for self and for the Lord can very well take a backseat in a Mum’s life. We find our minds too frazzled and our attention too scrambled to pray meaningfully or think spiritually. Or our bodies might be so exhausted that we do not even know how to pick our pieces and continue in an upward journey with the Lord.
There is a way to beat this cycle of ongoing stress. Motherhood can in fact be a time to prevent spiritual drowsiness and soul lethargy, and to draw real intimacy with the Lord. We can patiently learn to work our mind and develop continuity in our sometimes sporadic and erratic days with the Lord. We can also learn to craft our spiritual growth into long term and short term initiatives that will take us somewhere.
One of my goals in this season of motherhood is to study the Word – to read it, to learn it, to memorise it, to understand it and to engage with it, and to allow His love to touch others through a changed me with or without a pulpit, with or without an audience.
We all need to listen to God to know what is His call and assignment for our season of life, in the role and responsibility with the people He has encircled around us for the ultimate call He has predestined for us.
With that I want to make it my priority to learn how to pray honestly, earnestly, continuously, effortlessly and enjoyably and to see prayers as my direct personal communication with my Heavenly Father.
I want to grow a compassionate heart of intercession and to be able to pray prayers that move every mountain that stand in the way of us walking freely.
I pray that this busy season of motherhood may also be your spiritual training ground, and that you will take heart in growing every day, closer to the Lord!