Thoughts for Thursday

I am going to start making this a every Thursday kind of thing. Sharing my thoughts about whats going on in my life or just for the week!! This week has been a hard week for us. With Lily Jane being sick, me going back to work from spring break (is it summer yet) and Mr. traveling.. I have been doubting myself as a Mommy this week. I feel like I can't get it all done, I can't be the Mommy Lily Jane needs...It is so hard when they are sick because they are so needy and you can't get anything done. I felt like I failed this week, until I opened my e-mail yesterday it was just what I needed. Don't you love when you get an e-mail and it speaks so perfectly to you!!! I get an daily devotion from Proverbs 31 and they are so powerful. The title of the post was There's No Such Thing as a Perfect Mom.... "Her children arise and call her blessed;" Proverbs 31:28a (NIV) 

 I desperately wanted to be a good mom, the best mom. In fact, I hoped I could make up for my past mistakes if I were the perfect mom. So I set standards for myself that I couldn’t meet — no one could — and constantly felt like a failure.

I imagine many moms feel that way at times. We set our minds to being the most patient, loving, thoughtful, caring, kind, generous and selfless mothers ever, but life and reality get in the way. Colicky babies, tantrum-throwing toddlers, defiant third graders, disrespectful middle schoolers, and hormonal teenagers shake our quest for perfection.

No matter how hard we try, we can’t live up to the standard of being perfect moms with perfect kids who rise up every day and call us blessed.

When we read today’s key verse, it might make us wonder if we’re enough as a mom — especially on those days when we don’t feel like enough. But the truth is, this woman’s husband and children, who knew her better than anyone else, were recipients of her love, care and unselfish habits. They believed she was a good mother and wife and respected her faith and who she was overall, and they were proud.

It doesn’t say she was perfect, just that she was perfectly loved and respected.

All of us have made mistakes or endured hardships in life, but we don’t have to let our past become a stumbling block for our future or impact the futures of our children. God has called us all to a divine purpose in this life, and sometimes the highest, most divine calling of all, is being a mom.

Not a perfect mom, but a mom who loves the Lord, and seeks grace when she stumbles and strength when she’s weary. A mom who pushes past her lack of confidence and regrets from the past, and allows God to use those experiences to shape her into a faith role model for her kids.

A mom who simply tries her best, while remembering she has a God who will guide her through each season of parenting, one imperfect day after another. A mom who loves her children enough to teach them to love Him too, even in the midst of her own short-comings.

And one day, those sweet babies just might rise up and call us blessed, simply because we built a legacy of faith and love. Then every prayer for grace, mercy, forgiveness, patience and perseverance will be well worth the wait.

How amazing was this devotion...We need to let God lead us and lean on him in our times of struggle we can't do it all. This was so amazing to read because it spoke out to me in the perfect timing...