Dear Exhausted Mom, You take a minute to scroll through Pinterest and several "Energetic Mom" posts show up on your feed. You switch to Facebook and the most popular post today is an article your friend shared: "8 Reasons to Keep a Neat House" And you sigh. And you exit out of it. And you want to throw your phone across the room as the guilt and condemnation piles on you and you feel like crying and giving up. You feel alone, like you can never be quite good enough. You can never measure up to other Moms. Because: You. Can't. Keep. Up. Because you have an unseen, exhausting sickness There are so many posts, blogs and articles about being a Proverbs 31 Woman. And there needs to be! They need to be written and shared and read and shared some more!! We need that encouragement to be our very best. It is good to be challenged and inspired by Godly and energetic women. But there are times that some of us can not be that virtuous woman. Not when it comes to the "rising while it is still night" and "she girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms." Because you simply do not have the energy or the strength to do those things. Because all day you are making choices - do I use my energy to clean or make my kids feel loved? Should I cook a fancy supper for my husband or get all the laundry folded? Should I take a nap so I can feel good this evening or spend that time washing the floor? Because you know that you are limited in what you can get done. And it's ok. We are not here to be measured by other people's standards, but by God's. So, when your living room looks ready for company because the entire mess is hidden in your bedroom because all you had the energy to do was feed your family and dress your kids this week, it's ok. When you only have what it takes to make the simplest meals, it's ok. When the only thing you get done in a day is cuddling your kids and the most basic house maintenance because you hardly felt like you could get off the couch, it's ok. When you see your friends being frugal and pumping out the DIY projects and you can only think of your dozens of undone DIY Pinterest pins and sigh, it's ok. My dear friend, when you're giving your all and it doesn't look like anything, it's ok. Please, do not feel discouraged. Do not feel like you are not good enough. When you are too exhausted from chronic fatigue or some other sickness like that {or morning sickness!}, to be the Proverbs 31 Woman, you are still good enough. You are loved - you are loved with the all encompassing and gentle love of Jesus, who sees your heart perfectly and knows who you long to be. He is not watching you, thinking you should be doing more, waiting for you to achieve. You are perfect in His eyes. And you are worthy. Just look at what Jesus says about us - about you: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." Romans 8:1 {You are perfect in Jesus.} "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" {You are God's child!} "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27 {You are part of the body of Christ!} "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 {God's got this! Everything you're going through right now is a part of His plan!!} "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 {This is what is truly important!} "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. . ." Ephesians 1:3-6 {God choose you. He knew everything you would be, and everything you would accomplish and He choose you! He has adopted you and made you His child!!} "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:6 {In God's eyes, you are one with His royal and glorious Son!} But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 {Our own strength - anybody's strength, no matter who they are- is nothing next to Jesus's strength anyway. Let yourself be strong through Him!} "...because God has said 'never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5 {God is here with us, always. He sees our hardships that may seem insignificant to some people, and "His heart is touched with our grief."} Dear exhausted friends, it's ok to not be the Proverbs 31 Woman. You are enough,through Jesus!! I created a printable for you to download and print out with all of these verses. Hang it up somewhere you can see it often, and when you feel the guilt and condemnation piling up, when you don't feel like you're enough, take time to read them and remember... You are perfect in His eyes! ![]()
1 Comment
8/19/2016 08:15:35 pm
I needed this, Stefani. Many times it's the expectations I put on myself, but I am learning to see myself as God sees me. In that light, I can be free to be the woman He made me to be, even when that means my kitchen is messy. :-)
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I am on a journey to know Jesus better, and be the wife, mommy and friend that God created me to be, all within the walls of my own little home. <3
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