The day had been long. I was quickly trying to clean up the chaos of toys in our living room one evening and I could feel my stress level rising. How many times had I picked up these toys today? Our sweet little 15 month old who enjoys throwing toys all over the room more than actually playing with them certainly keeps us busy. This day in particular our daughter was especially clingy and fussy. Perhaps it was due to the five teeth she was cutting.
I began singing the clean up song and encouraging our daughter to help me put the Mega Blocks in their tub. She toddled over to me with a big grin and instead started taking the blocks out of the tub. Of course.
After a couple attempts to redirect I turned the tub away and continued to crawl over the floor picking up toys. By now she thought we were playing a game. She ran up behind me and grabbed my hair right at my scalp, pulling it as hard as she could.
It was in that moment that I lost my patience. “No!” I firmly said while prying her little fingers from my hair. (I’ll be honest, that “firmly said” may have been more of a yell.) I continued to struggle as she kept reaching for my hair. My stress level was rising faster and as soon as I thought I could take no more my husband quickly came to my rescue and took her in the other room.
Once she was gone I realized that my heart was angry! How could I possibly feel anger toward this sweet little girl who lights up my world? With her great big grin and cute face– how!?
A verse came to my mind later that night:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”- Galatians 6:9
Weary–that was how I felt. Weary in motherhood. Have you been there too? In Galatians, Paul was encouraging other Christians to live to please the Spirit rather than sinful nature. (6:8) Parenting is no exception! We should be aiming to please the Spirit in how we parent. My reaction to the stresses of raising my sweet toddler was definitely not Spirit-pleasing that night. That doesn’t mean that I’m not trying like crazy though!
Paul tells me not to become weary in doing good, because at the proper time I will reap a harvest if I do not give up. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like this verse speaks to my parenting efforts! Parenting is more than just a duty–it’s a calling and an opportunity to bring God glory. I want to work hard to not just be the best parent I can be, but to be loving, kind, and full of grace in how I parent.
It is in our weariness that we are most susceptible to Satan’s attacks. It’s much harder to indulge in the fruits of the Spirit when our sinful nature wants to lash out in response. So we must be on our guard when we feel worn down. Of course, the best way to rejuvenate is to spend time with the Father!
I saw a picture on Facebook recently. The top portion showed cats walking forward with a title that said, “Going into the prayer room.” The bottom half showed fierce lions with a title that read, “Leaving the prayer room.” If that doesn’t sound like a familiar experience then I suggest you get down on your knees and ask God to help you discover the power of prayer!
Motherhood might drain us sometimes, but we have a God who offers us a never-ending supply of the water we need! When we feel weary God will provide us the strength we need when we seek Him. The great news is that He isn’t hard to find! He’s here for us always through prayer.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”~ Matthew 7:7
Thank you, Father God, for meeting us mothers in our time of need.
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Oh, I was so weary this week. That verse was the verse of the day on my bible app a few days ago. I shared it on my page because I know how much I needed it! I had the worst week. The number of stressors and crises was so much I would have laughed if they weren’t all such serious circumstances. My heart and emotions are still frayed. I felt my old temper start to rise as well. But I rested in this verse, and managed to deal with the week mostly peacefully. And I’m still sucker punched with… Read more »