Today was a rough day. But the Lord is my comforter. Today I feel overwhelmed. But the Lord is my strength. Today I was sad. But I find my joy in trusting the Lord. I choose to find joy in the fact that He is my strength, my shield, my sustainer and my ever present help in time of need. The Lord is my peace and I am so grateful that He finds joy in giving me mercy and grace to walk through difficult circumstances. I find myself today having a moment where I feel that I need to be transparent about where I am right now. I have had to remind myself that it is okay to feel overwhelmed. It is okay to be sad. It is okay to grieve for what you thought would be. So many times I try to be strong. I hold it all inside trying to be everything and trying to be what I am unable to be. I am not able to be everything. I am not able to be anything....without Christ. Today I spoke with two of my family members and I am grateful for the things that the Lord showed me through these conversations. I hope that this will encourage you in whatever circumstance that you may be going through with your children. You can even apply these things to a situation in your life that does not involve parenting. I hope that you may be able to take these things and share with others. To me they were very important for me to hear.
1. Keep our minds focused on Jesus. Remind myself of my key verse: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because He trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3 Make sure to make time to be in the Word.....soak it in so that we can hear His voice.....to be able to get rid of all the chaos around us and just be able to see Jesus. Just be able to feel His presence.
2. Whenever we think we can do it..... we cant! We cannot do anything....Christ can do it! He gives us strength. He gives us wisdom. He gives us grace. He gives us peace. He is our Rock. He is our Portion. He is our Help. He is our Shield. He is our Jehovah Jireh who provides us with all that we need to walk through. When we surrender our weakness to Him He takes that weakness and gives us all that we need. When we say, "Lord I don't know how to do this. I don't have the strength. I depend upon You. I cant Lord! BUT I TRUST that You can" He gives us what we need to be able to do all that we need to do.
3. Whenever we are able to we need to take care of ourselves. Whether that means going for a walk for while or whatever else is relaxing. In our busy lives it is hard to do that. It is hard to remember that if we are not able to make sure that we are healthy physically, emotionally and most important spiritually we wont be able to be the best parents for our kids.
4. When we do have the occasion to get together with a friend allow yourself to choose not to talk about your situation/children. Allow yourself to just be you....not be mom for the night. Talk about the Lord, talk about the good things that are happening in each others lives, rejoice with one another for the things that the Lord is doing. Pray with each other. Just laugh. Smile. Be happy. Allow yourself to just be silly. Just let yourself have a time to just be.
5. Remember that the most important role that you play in your children's lives is: You are their mom. For those with children with special needs....we are not their therapists. Yes we need to work with them one on one and spend time playing and enjoying each moment with them. But, if it seems overwhelming and you think that nothing is connecting and you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel keep the focus on the fact that the only thing that truly matters is time you spend with them as their mom. They are learning that you are the one person who they can always count on to love them unconditionally. You are mom. That is all that they need you to be. You are mom. No one else can do that job but you. When all seems overwhelming and you want to do it all and you feel defeated NOTHING else matters but the fact that you are their mom and that is all that they need.
6. Celebrate the smallest accomplishments. Soak it in! Praise them! Rejoice with them! Be silly over the smallest thing! Laugh. Enjoy those moments. They are precious!
7. Have a sense of humor. Don't take things too seriously. Keep laughter in the journey.
8. Allow yourself to have moments to just let it all go and allow yourself to just be sad. It is OK. Don't try to stuff it all. At the same time don't stay there.....move on.
9. Look for opportunities to allow the Lord to use your situation for His glory in someone else's life. Share what He is doing. Encourage them with what the Lord is showing you. Give them hope.
10. Remember you are loved by the King!!! You are His child. He loves your children just as much as he loves you....actually more than you love them.... and they are just yours to raise. They ultimately belong to Him. He has a huge plan for their lives that far exceeds what you can even imagine. Enjoy the ride! Keep surrendering them to His hands.
God bless you all abundantly more than you can ever ask, think or imagine as you walk the journey the Lord has you on!
Ephesians 3:16-21
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