 Can you believe that May 2022 is already wrapping up? We've spent our weekends dashing from graduation party to graduation part. Just yesterday, my oldest graduated from preschool. May is always wild and ends with a bang- the beginning of sweet summertime.
Since we've zeroed in on building up Mama's in May, I wanted to end with an excerpt from the devotional book that I wrote and published in the dead middle of the wild, fun, turbulent waters of my own motherhood experience, "Matrimony, Motherhood and Me." I'll tell you one thing, it's easier to write on something you've already been through because it's reflective. When you reread it, it doesn't cut at you because you've already healed. It doesn't push you in the right direction because you're already there. I wrote this devotional from the dead middle of mothering littles, a season I'm still currently in. This entry in particular seems to elbow me right between the ribs because fighting for space is a battle we're still in as a family. Maybe you are too. So, let's talk about space. Because, as mothers, it's sacred...
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 So often I am completely stilled that the God of the universe would answer my greatest and deepest desire with the story that he has.
From as early as I can remember, I have always dreamed of being a mom. As the oldest of four children, I always felt like I was my siblings' second momma. When I was little and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always “a mom”, or “I want to work with orphans and love them as my own.” It's funny how God plants those little seeds in our hearts from the youngest of ages. However, God's timeline was different from mine, but gracious. It was perfect. The miracles he has worked in my life have drawn me closer to him in ways that I never imagined possible. He took that desire to care for orphans and children and made it my story through adoption. So, THIS is my story and my greatest heart’s desire is to use all for His glory…  When you speak a blessing, you are declaring favor and goodness over people and reminding someone who their God is to stir faith in them. If faith is stirred through speaking blessings, and faith can change the world, why couldn’t we shift the hearts and perspectives of ourselves and our children by deciding to speak blessings over them each day?
If you need somewhere to start, here are five blessings to speak over your children...  I’ve found that "mom guilt" is more accessible than it should be and easier to yield to than I am willing to admit...
Here’s the truth. Mom guilt started way before motherhood; this is not something that magically appeared after giving birth to a fun size version of myself, it has always been there. There’s always an array of guilt, we have just done a great job at putting words in front it. Now there's- job guilt, wife guilt, friend guilt, food guilt, shoppers’ guilt. Guilt is guilt no matter what word we place in front of it. For me, this started as a little girl who was groomed to meet the unyielding expectations of others. If I dared to not meet them, I would be greeted with rejection, feelings of abandonment and words that affirmed I wasn’t good enough. These repeated moments wrote the words to a novel I was never designed to be a character in. Through these exchanges, I learned how to easily deem myself guilty. The judge was my unresolved issues of the past throwing down the gavel, validating my charges and sentencing me to guilt prison. This isn’t new, it’s just matured.... The term "mom guilt" has conveniently given guilt permission to grow with us into motherhood and occupy space in different areas of our lives. So, how do we choose God's grace over "mom guilt"? |
