I hadn’t seen the boys in a few days. When the doorbell rang, they piled in excited. We ran upstairs and Josiah, who is almost two, climbed on my back and sat on me.
I was the imaginary horse and he was the cowboy. He jumped up and down until my vertebrae felt like it was going to snap in half, and then snuggled close. Luke grabbed Richard by the hand and off they went.
Later I found my daughter downstairs wrapped in a comfy throw, snuggled on the couch. It had taken her about two minutes to fall asleep.
She is on the front lines, like most moms. She’s balancing a flexible job with parenting two rambunctious boys. Sometimes, when it’s possible, she visits the chiropractor who tsks-tsks while trying to fix her frame, out of line because she carries one boy on her hip and the other loves nothing more than jumping off the bed to her fifty times in a row.
She makes peanut butter jelly sandwiches and freezer meals. She washes clothes and then puts them on the boys just in time for a leaky diaper or a spaghetti face.
Motherhood is sheer faithfulness.
It’s stepping up to do something ordinary, but with extraordinary tenacity.
The other day I was reading about Nehemiah. He was the cup bearer to the King. He drank the ale to make sure it wasn’t poison. Some might say that anyone could do this job.
Not so.
This day-in and day-out job was an enormous position of trust. It met a need; it protected; it served. Beyond the obvious there was a greater cause as Nehemiah stepped up every day to make sure that the nation would have a King.
Right now you might be deep in the midst of ordinary.
You are potty training. Correcting behavior. Loving. Serving. Carpooling. Showing up at ball games. Coming home from the job only to start your second.
You are performing everyday tasks with tenacity and attention to detail. There are days that you feel overwhelmed, unappreciated, but also totally in love with those children you call family.
Can I tell you something? I’m pulling you close — woman to woman. Mom to mom.
You matter.
What you do is significant over time. Those everyday gestures of love and teaching and patience is shaping the man or woman your child will become. In the nitty gritty, we moms don’t have a magic mirror. We have no idea what God is doing as we partner with Him day by day.
However, He does.
Just like Nehemiah, the man who was a cup bearer. Though his job seemed behind the scenes, it was his quiet influence that later banded together thousands to save an entire nation.
What you do matters. I can’t say that too many times.
To my sweet Melissa, Leslie, and Kristin, I want you to know that this mama is watching you and I know it’s crazy hard some days, but you are shaping five incredible human beings that will make an impact on the world.
And to you, maybe it’s been a really long time since anyone patted you on the back or gave you a word of encouragement. I’m reaching with both arms to tell you that you are valuable. You are faithful. You are beautiful to your children and you are beautiful to your God.
Thank you for showing up every day. Thank you for your faithfulness. What you do is a sweet fragrance — to God, to your children, and to all those your children will one day touch as they grow into the man or woman God called them to be.
Suzie
My friend, Glynnis Whitwer, just wrote an awesome book called Tame the To-Do List: How to Choose Your Best
Work Every Day.
It’s filled with practical time management helps, but it’s also an exciting look at how to live your best life right where you are.
Moms, we need this book!
The Proverbs 31 Ministries online Bible study is currently offering a free study over this book (and I’ve signed up!). I hope you’ll check that out.
Glynnis has allowed me to offer a giveaway. She loves moms and women who are in the trenches making a difference.
How do you enter to win? Just tell us one thing that helps you as you parent your children.
Or if your children are grown, encourage our moms with one thing that you wish you’d known way back then.
Buy Glynnis’ book. Your purchase of this resource is a small blessing to this ministry. Find out more.
Ah, a great reminder. Thank you.
Lots of prayers help me to parent. And taking a deep breathe when I am about to lose it.
Love this! It is an exhausting, scary, frustrating, funny, most WONDERFUL job being a mom! It’s funny how it doesn’t end either. When I was young I didn’t think about being a parent of adult children. It’s the same job description just bigger and more independent “choldren”! It’s a life long journey I love being on!
*children not choldren. 😜
Lots of prayers and prayer warriors. My special needs child has created a strong network of professionals and other moms. I couldn’t do it without the support.
Last week this mom of four kids, ages 7, 6, 3, and 7 months, felt overwhelmed by clutter and I set off on a mission to declutter the whole house in ONE weekend. It was an impossible task to attempt when the days are already packed full of mommy duties. I quickly became upset and the joy was stolen from our weekend. I learned a lesson that I will have to keep working on, but I think if I could give one piece of advice (that I have to constantly work on)…. SING! Be silly! When everyone is about to board the crazy train because you’ve all reached your limit- Turn on some music and just be silly! It will generally make you smile and it gets everyone distracted from whatever task was about to steal your sunshine!
I have started the next journey in motherhood. We are first time college parents and still have junior high and elementary children. We have to stay in God’s Word and prayer time daily. Most of all, Trust our God! That being said, we had to really trust two weeks into college life, Shooter at my daughter’s college. It turns out that he didn’t have a gun but we had to put trust in God for protection over our child.
Prayer. Oh I pray. Since my husband died I feel as if I’m parenting with one hand tied behind my back (as I posted on your generous prayer offer on FB last week). But God must have confidence in me because He trusted these four amazing people to my care. God knows that with His help, I can do this! So my prayer time is my biggest asset in trying to choose how to wisely care for these not-so-little-anymore (17, 15, 13, 7) blessings in my life. And I totally almost bought Glynnis’s new book at She Speaks. I’d be giggly to win it!
Hello Suzie! What a beautiful and encouraging posts for Moms – they are amazing, aren’t they? As an empty nester, just reading your words overwhelmed me! I think a new name for all the moms out there should be Super Mom!
Great post! It’s so encouraging. It’s so good to be reminded that all those little things add up and that we are a part of God’s big plan in our kids’ lives. Thanks for sharing!
I love this. So encouraging. I come from a different perspective. I’m not a mom but I quit teaching special education when my sister and her Husband moved close to us and my sister found a job. I quit teaching and now I spend everyday with my nephew. A “stay at home aunt” and I go to grad school in the evening. It was a big adjustment but I love it. I read in the first five app that our daily choices impact future generations. I make sure to spend time with my nephew and read his children’s bible but to also just be with him and show him that love. I also notice my sister and her love for him. Her hard work being a full time counselor for young adults and then to come home and be a full time mom. I can sometimes see her tiredness and exhaustion but she keeps going and she Kees her family first and ensures God is at the center. I get to see first hand the juggling of life but also this reminder that we aren’t alone and that each thing we do, is important. For God and his kingdom, placing him first and spending time in his arms and giving ourselves rest is so important. Like I said, I’m not a mom but being an aunt everyday for 9+ plus hours is a lot of work but I also couldn’t do this without the impact my own mom and sister have on me and how to “parent” my nephew
Remembering that I’m the conductor of the day. If it’s going badly in our house I have the choice of moving us all outside. Or driving around until they fall asleep in the car seat, pulling into a drive-thru, ordering a coffee, and sitting in silence for a few minutes!
To pray! And to take my worries or insecurities to God. So simple and yet so not!
Thank you for the encouragement! The thing that helps me parent is community. I lean on my small group and my close friends to keep my sanity. It is a treasure to have some women in my life who say, “me, too.” I take my concerns and frustrations to them and get sound advice, prayer, or a gentle pat on the back. They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think that means the support us moms need more than the kids!
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