Let the light in
Did you already know the day would feel long, before you even pulled yourself up out of bed this morning? You aren’t the first to feel this way and you likely won’t be the last either. You aren’t alone. Motherhood is indeed a marathon, a long haul journey. Even in neutral, you still flux backward or forward. Without this perspective, we will end up drifting through our days instead of walking with purpose. It won’t just be tiring. It steers our exhausted body, heart, and mind to burnout, our depleted bodies no longer able to function with its intentional created capacity.
It’s easy to slip into the mindset that the seemingly minute choices we make don’t matter. We’ll believe the small space we occupy on this planet cannot make a big impact. The lies we believe will be the lies that we breathe. And in a world of billions of people, it seems to make sense. We can logic our way to that thinking pretty effortlessly. But, what happens when our children see us doing that and they teach their children what you’ve taught them as well? We’ve created a generational ripple effect, similar to a small pebble tossed across water creating wide ripples pulsating outward. In short, our small seemingly simple choices can create waves of change.
If you’re not careful, you’ll think one bad moment, one bad day, even one early morning alarm clock tone, means this is a bad life. And that’s when it’ll happen. In your fatigued stupor, you’ll start thinking that this is too hard, too much-that you want to escape.
And, in the moment of ache, you’ll let your mind wander to doubt. And doubt will feed you lies that you’ll treat as your identity. These lies, from the depths of hell, don’t deserve space in your heart or your mind. You’ll be convinced your tendered heart is weak.
Breathe this in: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” -Psalm 91:4 (ESV)
Be humble enough to prepare before the storm happens.
Be confident enough to perform when battle comes.
The enemy’s worst mistake was thinking your tender heart meant you’re weak.
Mothering, like most good things, isn’t designed to be easy. It’s designed to be beautiful. The most priceless pieces of art don’t happen overnight. They are painted one purposed-filled brushstroke at a time. The art of mothering is the daily practice of showing up consistently, despite the odds, knowing each moment can layer beauty into our lives and the lives of others.
If you’re prone to dreading the sunrise and the days feel long*, a few practices first thing in the morning can go a long way in making yourself prepared to have a great day, even in the busyness of motherhood. It likely won’t be immediate (most tasks that blossom under consistency rarely are), but these two practices will start a slow shift to more joy and less dread.
Prepare for tomorrow the night before. God will give us what we need, but we need to be there ready to receive. Start by laying out tomorrow’s clothes tonight before you go to sleep. It’s one less thing to remember, one less decision to even need to ponder when little children are pulling you in all directions in the sunrise hours.
In the morning, start in the Word first. Even if it’s just one or two verses and not your full daily reading, those few verses are the first thing you are seeing, remembering, pondering. If you feel yourself waking up grumpy, make the verses you read purpose-filled (i.e., maybe don’t start with long genealogy readings for your morning reading?).
Did you know META means Most Effective Tactics Available? That’s a whole other conversation we could unpack, but it is indeed an easy acronym to apply to scripture readings.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” -James 1:5(ESV)
There are some seasons of life that are so jam packed that if we aren’t systematically specific, things that are important get left aside. Busy seasons need a buffer system that still creates space for the priority of scripture reading/memorization. Don’t let a day go by that your soul skips the nutrition it needs.
If morning Bible reading is new or feels unsure (no shame, we all start somewhere, yes?), having a plan in place helps make new steps doable. I recommend doing one chapter of Proverbs a day when first starting. (Example: on April 1, read Proverbs 1. On April 2, read Proverbs 2. etc….)When first starting, having a non-fussy approach decreases overwhelm. Whether you choose Proverbs or Genesis or Matthew isn’t the biggest fret, it’s the making sure it happens.
Three methods I’ve used through the years that helped forge a habit of daily reading (especially when the mancubs were younger and days felt long and nights felt short):
The YouVersion Bible app-it’s user friendly, portable
Make children’s Bible reading part of our day together. Read aloud while children eat breakfast. This helps create this daily habit for them and creates a time where you get readings in as well.
Keep Bible open and propped up on kitchen counter, reading one verse at a time when I walked by. This is especially helpful for scripture memorization.
Slow and consistent habit stacking now brings efficiency. Efficiency now starts opening spaces of time in your calendar for creative pursuits on down the road.
Small purpose-filled efforts prevent overwhelm.
This matters- it’s hard to create beauty 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 when your mind is cluttered trying to remember all the things.
When we start the day with dread, we carry that with us from sun up to sun down, we bring that into our attitudes and wording choices to our children, we look in the mirror in frustration instead of contentment. In essence, we haven’t prepared ourselves for a great day, we’ve stacked the odds against ourselves before the day has even begun.
Children need someone solid to hold on to-we are wired that way. But. I need that, too. I tried clinging to empty shadows, positive affirmations, and clutching happy lies. They left me empty. I re-found Jesus-not in the spectacular wild and wonderful movie worthy ways. I found Him in the early mornings, one verse, one prayer at a time. I found Him in the mundane daily ordinary, how He faithfully stayed, even when I didn’t.
There’s a huge gap between wanting a great day and slowly putting daily practices in place that shift us to the heartfelt days of the motherhood we crave. Deep, meaningful days are available. The small choices we make today aren’t just creating spaces in the calendar for ourselves. They are modeling self-discipline, self-care for our children. Understanding this deeply moved me. Creating beauty through poetry, painting, gardening showed my children something bigger. It showed them that their future wives and daughters would need this as well. I wasn’t showing them how to place each brushstroke upon a canvas. I was actually showing them that their future wife was more than her daily tasks; she’s Divinely created art. That when she pursues beauty, she’s happier, calmer, radiates joy and contentment. It isn’t selfish to pursue beauty. Beauty has been placed all around us by the Creator.
We just need to let the light in to see it.
*This is in no way intended as a substitute for medical advice. If you are experiencing thoughts or ideations of harm to self or others or if you are in an unsafe domestic situation, please immediately seek medical/emergency services assistance. Seeking help for these should be your next safe step.
