Written by Katie Ledbetter
If I could go back and give my younger self a talking to, I would tell her to take more time to enjoy the moments that are so quickly passing by.
We all aspire to be the “perfect mother,” but what is that? We have A Perfect Saviour, but we have no perfect mother to emulate. Yet, we are all trying to be the person we envision that is slightly better than what we’ve seen and had emulated in our own lives. We place so much unnecessary stress on ourselves trying to achieve what we don’t even know.
We try to keep the husband happy, children loved just the right way, house clean, meals cooked, laundry caught up, garden tended, bread made, blogs posted, side jobs running, church events on schedule, friendships maintained, family not neglected, and through it all don’t forget self care. Just writing that list makes me exhausted. Often instead of enjoying it all we are stressed and so very tired.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
The Lord has laid out in His Word that there is a time for everything. Time is a gift we are given that has an expiration date. Have you ever accidentally thrown the expiration date away on something and then later wondered if it had expired? At this point I panic and into the trash it will go. That’s so often what we do in life. We don’t know when the end is coming so we live life in a panic state throwing moments away instead of enjoying the time we’ve been blessed with.
What I would tell my younger self is to invest more heavily into the treasures you’re taking with you than the environment you won’t. I love having a clean house, and I do feel that it’s my job to manage my home, but quite often we as women can focus on performance and outcome over training and outreach.
Young momma you have your children for such a short time at home.
Before you know it that nursing baby will be walking and then running. They will soon feed themselves, dress themselves, and not need you to interpret their sweet words to others. Motherhood is a job where the goal is to train them so well they don’t need us anymore. It’s not an easy task to see this happening in life so let me encourage you while they are small to enjoy the moments and make the moments enjoyable.
Slow down, lower your expectations on yourself and others. Loosely budget your time allowing for quick change when necessary. Hold your babies a bit longer and tighter, while they still need and want it. Pray over them instead of laying them down quickly to do the dishes or sweep a floor. Get them involved in every thing you are doing and all that needs done. Yes, it will take longer but they will learn that you being with them is something you love and enjoy, and not something you’re tolerating. Sing with them, quote Scripture with them, worship The Lord with them. Do the things with them you know will be in eternity.
Momma, things change as your children grow. Plant seeds in their life now that will grow up in them to become good fruit in their lives and point them to The Saviour. Let go of the idea of perfect and embrace The Lord’s will. Know where He leads WILL be perfect as you follow Him.
