This post was originally written by me for RaisingGenerationsToday.
This winter has been hard…and I’ve failed over and over again at this mommy-thing, but you know what? That’s ok. I’m not supposed to be good at this; if I was, if ANY of us were, we’d be a failure.
Endless months of winter, of time stuck inside, of replacing boxes of tissues and crossing legs when this mama coughs. Once the triplets were down for their naps, I plopped my weary self at the top of the stairs and bawled {in case you’re wondering ugly crying with a cough and a head cold are not recommended}.
“Lord! I’m done. I can’t do this.”
So often I hear from other moms, “I don’t know how you do it! You’re a super mom.” No, I am just a mom, like you. I struggle daily with my little ones and their needs and balancing them with my own needs and trying to squash my own selfish desires. I most assuredly don’t do IT. I’m not a super-mom, but I do have a Super God.
I have a God who, when I can’t do anything more, can; who, when I’m losing my temper, keeps His; who, when I don’t know where to begin, knows where and how; who, when I haven’t slept all night, pushes me on. When I have nothing more to give, He does…and generously.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
~Matthew 11:28
I’m a messy puddle of imperfect mommy-ness, but it would be so much worse if it wasn’t for a God who fills me with His goodness and grace. It’s only because I have a God who laid down his life for me, that I can even make a pitiful attempt at putting aside my own life for my children. And believe me, I fail miserably at it…constantly, but even my failings He redeems.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
~Corinthians 12:9
We were not created to do this mommy thing alone. We’re not supposed to be super at it, because when we attempt to be the perfect Pinterest mom we take the glory from God and we ultimately fail. If it weren’t for my God, and all the ways He provides for me, there is no way I could do any of what is at hand.
God may not always give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need. We just have to ask, and sometimes asking is the hardest part. We’ve been fed this lie that we need to be Super Mom; that unless we are the Jill of all trades, our kids are being deprived.
In running ourselves ragged to attain that image of Mommy Perfection, we are missing something. We are missing out on the opportunity to simply love our children, and the opportunity to allow God to work in our lives. We are attempting to build our homes and our children without the proper cornerstone, and it WILL all fall down.
As long as we continue to strive on our own, God will let us, but if we sit back and invite Him to take over the messes we’ve created He will make all things to His glory. So no, no matter what you think about yourself or another mom who seems to have it all together, no one does: There’s no such thing as a Super Mom, but there is a Super God. And boy, is that so much better.
