Dear Mom, This Is for When You Need to Guard Your Heart
Is today one of those days when you need help? A day that’s been a difficult mom day? A day you need help to stand up against the whispered lies of the enemy … and help to guard your heart so it doesn’t fall apart? If so, this is for you.
Is today a day you need help to stand up against the whispered lies of the enemy ... and help to guard your heart so it doesn't fall apart? If so, this is for you #hope #momentsofhope Share on XFor When You Need to Guard Your Heart
Dear Overwhelmed Mama,
I don’t know what you are facing today, but I know parenting isn’t easy. I know you have to make so many hard decisions while still dealing with the day-to-day chaos of little people who need you—who need you because God gave them you and He gave you them. Not by chance, or by mistake. Rather, He purposefully created you for each other.
God didn't give you your children by chance or mistake. Rather, He purposefully created you for each other. #hope #motherhood #overwhelmed Share on XBeing Mom is so important—our number one ministry and calling in life, which is why the enemy wants to tear you down and make you believe it’s too much or that you simply aren’t doing enough.
I hear you on the days of trials. I’ve been there right in the chaos with you. The days that leave our sensitive souls falling prey to the whispers of the enemy. The kinds of whispers he loves to taunt moms with because he knows it cuts deep.
It's on the most difficult days we tend to hear the whispered lies that tell us we are not enough. #hope #motherhood Share on XIt’s the whispers that twist your stomach into knots as they say:
I am messing up—missing things—falling behind.
I am not capable—not smart—not wise.
Not loving—not patient…
I am not a good mom.
It’s the days when the battle is at every turn. The ones when you battle the outside world to protect and fight for your children and then turn around to face a battle with none other than the very child you were just protecting. As you look into their glaring pair of defiant little eyes, you wonder how this can even be real.
I remember one (of many!) of those days.
With the telephone glued to my ear for what felt like an eternity, I desperately tried working out an issue with our medical insurance. Then, I gathered up the kids and we headed out to an appointment. We were greeted by a front desk staff member who apparently didn’t want to be at work that morning.
As I waited in the lobby, my angry little daughter wasn’t holding anything back. Fear threatened to control her as the prospect of a needle and the stress of the situation triggered her prior trauma. She lashed out and garnered the stares of everyone in the lobby who knew nothing of the journey we had walked together.
Finally, with the blood draw completed, we saw the neurologist. Already exhausted, it took everything in me to wrap my mind around medical terms, directions, and a diagnosis I didn’t want to face for our girl.
I remember walking out while glancing at my watch. It was only noon and the tears already fell. Along with those tears fell the guard I needed to protect myself. And predictably, the whispers filed into my mind one by one—some ten by ten.
Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. -Proverbs 4:23 GW
I could have gotten stuck there. Easily. I’ve done it before—I’ve been known to get stuck in many a yucky place.
But thankfully, that day I leaned into the One who would always guard my heart. His whisper stood out above the others. Maybe it was the years of getting stuck that trained my ears to listen for the truth. To listen to Jesus.
He reminded me that …
- This is hard. Really hard. But His strength will get me through. And He is using every challenge and every hard day to carve out a very big plan for a very special little child.
- I am a real mom with a real God who fills all the gaps. He is I AM (and, thankfully, I am NOT!)
- No matter what the enemy dishes out, God uses it for good!
- Even when my heart is not feeling the “gushy” kind of love toward one of my children, God’s love is firmly planted in my heart. It is the “purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another.” It is committed which means it will never give up.
- Just as Moses felt inadequate and asked God to choose someone else for the job (Exodus 4:10-13), I, too may feel inadequate. But, “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.”
- My God is for me and with me in every battle I must fight.
- Sometimes a good nap is great medicine!
Sweet mom, your stinky days of needing to guard your heart are not over.
There’s more on the horizon and the enemy will taunt you with lies. However, those lies are only that. Jesus tells us the truth in His Word and with His Word we can trade those lies for truth.
Jesus tells us the truth in His Word and with His Word we can trade the lies of the enemy for truth. #motherhood #guardyourheart #hope Share on XWe are real moms and parenting is hard. Really hard. But we have been called by a great big God to do this hard thing and we can do it with Him in us.
He keeps our hope burning bright.
Even on the stinky days.
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Oh my goodness, Laurie. This is so good! Love the story you shared. It’s every moms story really. We’ve all been there. And I love your last bulleted point: A good night’s sleep is medicine! That will preach! Thank you for sharing God’s hope for us battle weary moms. ?
I love this reminder that our kids are custom made for us, and we are their custom-made mums, uniquely designed to raise them in the way God has wired us for. It’s really an overwhelmingly beautiful truth!
I love when God puts similar messages on the hearts of many – I have a guest writer talking about seeing God in the midst of motherhood today. 🙂 What a great reminder that God uses ALL things for His glory, and that no matter what we walk through, He’s with us. Beautiful!
I’m so sorry for what your daughter has gone and is going through, Lori. Also for you as her mom. May God give you and moms everywhere strength! I love the truth reminders! They apply to other situations as well, so thank you. Love and blessings to you!
Oh what we as mom’s have all faced at one time. What an encouraging post that points us mom’s to be reminded to lean in to our Christ Jesus. We need His strength and peace to wash over us when the enemy tries to fill our minds work deception. God’s truth wins out every time!!
I don’t know a mom who hasn’t had a yucky day – but I do know as you get through those yucky days with him you learn to rely on Him more. You get stronger. You become more confident. You tell Satan “run away”. I have a question though – as mothers is mothering our #1 ministry or is that a statement that requires clarification? I always viewed it as very important but not #1. I hope that makes sense. Perhaps it helped me not to become so unmoored on the yucky days. (This is just me)
My son got hurt two weeks ago in the woods behind my house. It was an accident and a few stitches fixed it all. But I couldn’t help but think, “I’m not cut out for this. Why did God think I could handle things like this?”
And then God, in a way only He can, reminded me that He made me to parent these kids, exactly as I am, in these exact moments. It may not be what I think is perfect, but He didn’t make a mistake. I can trust that.
This parenting thing isn’t for the faint of heart. Praise God He is with us every often misguided and well-intentioned step of the way. laurensparks.net
I remember those hectic days when my children were little. Now they are all grown up with kids of their own and my life is somewhat slower. Bless you for praying for young moms. They need all the help they can get!
As a Mama & grandmama those days come & go in the changing seasons of life but we still need to protect & guard our hearts through it all because though their ages change the above attack doesn’t!
Blessings,
Jennifer
Lori – You have no idea how I needed to read your words this morning. I have tears rolling down my face as I sit here next to my child and worry how I failed the other two. It has been a hard week. I have felt like a failure so many times. Sometime this parenting of littles goes way into adulthood. I needed every word your wrote to remind me God chose us to be together. He knows what he is doing. Bless you – Maree
Sharing everywhere!
Lori, I’ve had my share of those days. Even when they’re grown sometimes they can break your heart or your heart can be breaking for them. And the enemy hits you will all the “if onlys.” If I had know this. If I had done better at that. And on it goes. We can never stop resting in Jesus. That’s for sure!
Oh Lori!!! You have no idea how this mama needed to hear every word of this post!! “He is I AM (and thankfully I am NOT)” – I’m writing that down and posting it where I can see it DAILY!!! Thank you, sweet friend!!
Oh, this is so, so good! My children are all older now, but I still fight the lies of the enemy daily as a mom of adults and almost-adults. “I am a real mom with a real God who fills all the gaps. He is I AM (and, thankfully, I am NOT!)” I love that line! As I’m learning to let go of my children during this season of their new independence, I’m recognizing how easy it has been to trust in my own ability to care for my children rather than trusting in Christ alone. But oh, how faithful and capable He is! He is everything they need – and I most certainly am not. And that’s a great relief and comforting truth. Thank you for this post, Lori!