I keep a few photographs on my fridge and there is one that always makes me smile.
In it, my children are of toddler age, gap-toothed and smiling ear to ear, leaning to me with the complete and uncomplicated trust that only very young children have. I remember that photo, I remember that moment, I remember being exhausted that very afternoon. I remember wondering if I was doing enough for my kids.
I was present in body but my mind was burdened and three tasks ahead of time. Motherhood has a way of making me feel incompetent and not enough. The love we feel for our children is so vast that it could be frightening sometimes; knowing and worrying that we can’t always fully protect them, can’t fully fix their problems and then, there are some days where I have raised my voice when I meant to show my care in a gentler way or I simply came home from work with no more attention left to give to my children, that guilt settles in like an invisible yet tangible weight.
The Lord, however, He constantly reminds me that we are not called to be perfect mothers. He asks us to lean on His strength. The same hands that formed our children before we even knew them are holding them still. We are not their only covering, the Lord is.
To every mother reading this, the tired one, the busy one, the one who wonders if you are enough, yes you are enough and yes, what you do matters. God sees you, God loves you and God loves your children.
Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
- S.I.L
In it, my children are of toddler age, gap-toothed and smiling ear to ear, leaning to me with the complete and uncomplicated trust that only very young children have. I remember that photo, I remember that moment, I remember being exhausted that very afternoon. I remember wondering if I was doing enough for my kids.
I was present in body but my mind was burdened and three tasks ahead of time. Motherhood has a way of making me feel incompetent and not enough. The love we feel for our children is so vast that it could be frightening sometimes; knowing and worrying that we can’t always fully protect them, can’t fully fix their problems and then, there are some days where I have raised my voice when I meant to show my care in a gentler way or I simply came home from work with no more attention left to give to my children, that guilt settles in like an invisible yet tangible weight.
The Lord, however, He constantly reminds me that we are not called to be perfect mothers. He asks us to lean on His strength. The same hands that formed our children before we even knew them are holding them still. We are not their only covering, the Lord is.
To every mother reading this, the tired one, the busy one, the one who wonders if you are enough, yes you are enough and yes, what you do matters. God sees you, God loves you and God loves your children.
Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
- S.I.L
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