Weariness in Mothering
I have three kids who are all almost officially teenagers. We are just a few months away from our youngest turning thirteen. They are all approximately two years apart, give or take a month. The baby years were especially interesting with challenges like trying to bathe two and hold the other. We laugh about how chaotic it got when one accidentally went potty in the bathtub with us trying to bail out the other two. The car seats, the bed-time routines, the late-night needs were enough to tire even the most energetic of moms. Now, as they’ve gotten older, we are guiding them into adulthood, which has a whole new list of challenges.
Over the years, each season has provided its own joys and difficulties. I have found myself, and continue to find myself at times, feeling weary of all God has called me to be and do as a mother. I take the call of motherhood seriously. I am fully convinced through God’s Word of how important the role of mother is, and I pray daily that God would help me. In Gloria Furman’s article on motherhood, she writes:
Our nurturing work done unto Christ is part and parcel of the new creation, an invisible kingdom growing like a mustard seed in a garden, spreading throughout the world like leaven through dough. Motherhood is a gift that keeps on giving. Each day (and night) brings even more ways we get to live out his big story, the story that says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Let’s remember and be encouraged that through the gift of motherhood we can show our children, and the world, Christ working through an imperfect person to show His glory. Each season will have its challenges, but it is in these challenges that the grace God will be evident in new ways. We cannot forget that it is precisely in our weakness that the power of Christ is made strong. So, don’t lose heart if you feel weak or wonder how you will finish this race and always remember:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9–10).
