Five Ways to Experience Grace in Mom Life

Becoming a mom. All at once it’s everything you ever hoped for and it’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done, the best thing, but the hardest for sure. Why is momming (let’s make it a verb, shall we) so hard? Well, let’s consider what’s at stake here. You’re trying to raise a little boy or a little girl to become a lover and glad follower of Jesus Christ. Salvation is something the Holy Spirit works in souls, but to be sure He has folded us into the plan as a pretty integral part. You’re hoping this little squirming baby babbling in your arms will one day read on their own, think logically, ride a bike with two wheels,  choose kindness, and so much more. If you sit down and think about it all at once you just might begin to feel suffocating overwhelm, because the task you’ve been appointed to is not one you can accomplish with your own wits. Who knows all the reasons God created parenting the way He has? One thing seems fairly clear though He wants us to remain completely & utterly dependent on Him, and really, y’all, what else can we be? Show me the mom who thinks she’s got this momming thing down and I’ll show you what pride looks like, you know what I mean? This calling brings you to your knees, whether you go willingly or not. These children who scoop every last bit of your heart’s affection and tempt you to let the entire universe spin around them, the Lord will use to show you sin you didn’t even know was there and grace you weren’t aware of either. A child’s love comes easily, often forgiveness flows freely, and their love for you will blind them to so many of your flaws. Some evenings you will sit with a heart so full marveling that one person, you, is afforded this much happiness. Other evenings your hands cup your eyes and hold on to the tears, because you lost your patience again today. You wonder when do we get to the easy part of this whole gig? Well, I don’t think it get any easier, but we can experience grace in the midst of it. Here are five ways you can experience grace while momming all day long.

1. Hide yourself in the Scriptures. God’s Word is an endless source wisdom & encouragement. It offers everything we need to mom well. It  is easy to allow the cascading events of the day push the Word aside, but I’m begging you to not let it happen. Listen, you’re not going to be perfect, that’s a given, but if we give time to the One who gives us time we are going to be better positioned to influence our children to Christ Jesus in every way. Don’t let your soul run on empty, because you’re busy. Determine to open God’s Word at least one time every single day. We wouldn’t imagine running without food or water, but too many of us imagine that we can survive well without the sustaining Words of Christ and that is a horrific deception too many of us have believed.

2. Apologize, it’s easy, and it’s free. The youngest among us can sniff out a fake. Your kids are on to the fact that you don’t do all things well, and while you are to set the example and be their role model there are going to be times you colossally and completely blow it. When you do apologize and ask for their forgiveness. Save yourself a lifetime of broken relationships with this one. 

3. Pray all the time. Create a lifestyle of prayer and dependence on God. Don’t isolate prayer to the private corridors of life let prayer slip into every situation and place with ease. Since prayer is as necessary as breathing, treat it that way all the time. When you give yourself to a continual pursuit of the Lord in prayer your children learn that God is personal not someone you simply learn about on Sundays or other special times. Show them that humility is paramount by teaching them to pray at all times. 

4. Take care of yourself. If you’re struggling with postpartum depression or depression in general get the needed help. If you’re overwhelmed tell a close friend; friends are nearly always willing to help if they realize you have a need. If friends are scarce in this season of life (don’t worry they are coming, seek them out) tell a mentor or your mom, someone who can help you from time to time during the day while your husband is at work. If you work let your husband share the load with you at home don’t feel the need to be super woman, there’s no such thing. Listen carefully, I’m going to save you a lot of mulling with this one, NO ONE CAN DO EVERYTHING WELL. As curated as that blog, Istagram account, or Facebook Profile is, don’t let it fool you, there’s not a soul on earth who can do everything well all of the time. Nope. Doesn’t exist. Let it go. Realize that you were created with limitations. This design was meant to make you seek rest in the only One in whom it can be found, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

5. Live well. Let’s talk food, in all these years I don’t think I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of any diet however good or however trendy it might be. If you want to do Whole30 have at it; if you want to do WholeCookies have at that too, just not regularly, hm, k?! If we eat a steady diet of junk or steady diet of nothing (as I’ve often plead guilty to because I honestly forget) or we eat the healthiest diet ever but we are obsessed with it and feel guilty if we blow it, we are not stewarding these bodies of ours well. Since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t we give a measure of thought to what we put inside of them both in terms of food, as well as  television intake, social media usage, hours of sleep each night, and the like? Here’s the thing we tend to forget as we mom… we are whole people, and if we do not take care of ourselves as a whole we will not do well. As a Christ follower the Holy Spirit indwells us shouldn’t we then be mindful as to what we allow in our bodies and in our minds in every respect?

There’s so much to be said, always, but for now I hope you will consider these 5 encouragements as a way you can experience grace in momming. We all need it, and I hope today you know that you are so very loved. Grace to you.