not enough

If you came over from Encouragement for Today devos, welcome! I’m so glad you are here.

 

In today’s devo I shared a story from when I was a young mom. I had three toddlers and two of them escaped on Big Wheels in WalMart.

Today when I tell that story, I laugh. It’s no accident that my twins grew up to be adventurers. It wasn’t the first time — or the last — that they’d strike out on their own with the wind waving in their hair and their hearts set on “go.”

But back then, it was scary.

I didn’t share this in the devo (you know, with my closest 700,000 friends), but I was hard on myself that day because I thought a good mom wouldn’t have let it happen.

Things were hard when I was a child and I wanted my children to grow up feeling safe. I set the bar high on what a good mom should do or shouldn’t do, and losing them in WalMart was on the shouldn’t-do list.

The funny thing is that my kids were having a blast. They felt safe. They were safe.

Can I tell you something? It was my fear that was having a heyday, not theirs.

Years later I’d give anything to sit across from that young mom and tell her that we all have those days. We all run into our “not enough” on a regular basis. Not enough sleep. Not enough time. Not enough wisdom. Not enough of us to go around.

We’re human.

And that’s okay.

Rather than beat ourselves up for not being all-wise, all-omniscient, all-things-to-all-people, is it possible that we we can celebrate that God lives inside of our ordinary selves and He can use our “not enough” in an incredible way when we offer it to Him?

That fact alone makes my feet want to dance.

In fact, it’s in our “not enough” that God shows up the greatest. It becomes an incredible act of trust.

I’d tell that young mom that her twins — the two-year-old monkeys that sped away on Big Wheels — would grow up to be compassionate, caring adults that would pour into others. And yes, they would still grab life with both hands and speed into the unknown with joy.

I’d tell her to be a little more grace-filled with herself and to celebrate how well she was doing. Having three children under the age of 19 months was a BIG job!

twins

I’d tell her her not-enough was just as deep as the things she did really well, like laughing with her children, listening to what they had to say, and showing love to her babies.

Are you focused on your “not enough?”

Let me gather you close, friend to friend. Mom to mom. Woman to woman.

None of us are enough.

Not even that woman who seems to have it all together. But when we invite God into our “not enough,” we are no longer alone in parenting, or in our faith, or in our marriage, or in our insecurities.

We loosen our grip and stop trying so hard to be perfect. We give ourselves grace — which allows us to give others grace.

We are able to see the good that we do and celebrate those moments!

And most important, we stop beating ourselves up which offers no value at all. Instead we see growth opportunities and we do exactly that. We grow as a woman, in our faith, and in the roles we treasure.

Suzie

mom2beRelated Resource:

The Mom I Want to Be: Rising Above Your Past to Give Your Kids a Great Future.

It’s hard to believe but this book is now 10 years old! It will always be one of my favorites. My prayer is that if you grew up in dysfunction and want to give your children something greater, that this will be a powerful resource for you.