Motherhood is not all easy peasy lemon squeezy as my son would say. Let’s face it Motherhood can be downright messy. School has started which means no more sleeping in, let’s just go to target today, watch a few shows, read our books for hours, and the list goes on. We are back on full rush hour traffic mornings. Literally. All I can say is mornings don’t always show my pretty side and they are definitely not easy peasy lemon squeezy. I can hear myself after saying brush your teeth, get your backpack, let me tie your shoes, eat your breakfast, oh no we are already running late, hurry let’s go the bell’s gonna ring….EEEEK I feel like I am just ordering these little ones around barking orders.
I confess this is not the side of motherhood I am proud of but I do my best. I don’t have to bark orders every morning. {Thank Goodness for some grace} I try to organize everything the night before, but I will be honest, that just doesn’t go well with me. Either way motherhood can be messy wether it be school mornings, church mornings, grocery shopping, disciplining, dinner time, clean up time, and yes even bath time.
Our kids are not perfect and moms, neither are we. We house of a bunch of imperfect sinners running around like a hot mess tripping over hot wheels and baby dolls.
And that’s ok. You weren’t designed to be this perfect little mom who was on top of things every single day. You were designed to love your children and teach them good from bad, how to treat others, to love the Lord with all their heart. You were designed to sing banana pancakes by Jack Johnson (at least that’s what we sing) over and over…or maybe your singing the wheels on the bus go round and round for the 117th time which can give you a little road rage but you can’t act like that in the car. So while your parked at a red light you sing and dance and pretend to do your windshield wipers with your fingers on your bus that has darn wheels that go round and round. The whole time you’re smiling to keep some sanity and then you just look like this crazy mama driving around town in circles just like those wheels on the bus.
That my sisters is what you were designed for.
You were designed to kiss your babies owies and booboos when they fall. Sign the class party notes and valentines at midnight the night before the party. Rock your babies back to sleep at 2am when they awake scared of the dark. You were even designed to clean your little one who just had an accident in the middle of the store. All of this can be messy and that’s ok.
The sleepless nights, endless piles of laundry, sink full of dishes, a 3ft pile or though it seems, of school paperwork which really means mommy homework, may some days seem small but in the big picture it is huge. Every. little. thing you do for you children messy or not is part of your child’s story. Part of your story.
Now that both of my babies are in school and we have officially completed one week! One week with only two times of them actually hitting each other, five days of being exhausted, and one insane meltdown of attacking the nurse at the pediatricians office, we survived and we still said lots of I love you’s and I was told I was the best mom a couple of times along with being the coolest! That is worth all the messiness of motherhood.
I am not failing and neither are you.
Don’t let your feelings of exhaustion, the sight of the laundry that hasn’t been done, and the dishes that still need to be put away defeat you. Let your feelings of I did it, the school forms that were turned in, the kids lunches that were made, the stories you read to them, and the prayers you prayed together be the encouragement of all the things you did accomplish.
If your feeling like your failing as a mother tonight, please know you are not. You can do this. You are not qualified on your own. You were designed for this role as a mother to your beautiful children. Our qualifications come from God so why not pray to him or ask for help when you feel consumed by the messiness. Share with your close girlfriends who are also mothers and I can promise you it is all familiar to them too. Share a few tears and don’t be alone. We need each other. We need to say to other moms you are amazing and you can run the race.
Embrace the mess of being a mommy and teach your kids that you are not perfect and although we may make mistakes, we are not failing. You may be truly exhausted and out of breath running this race. Even though we are weak, God’s light shines through us and empowers us.
I love this picture and I hope you do too.
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