On my sidebar I have a gadget that allows me to see the direction of the traffic I get on my blog. On this gadget I can also see what someone may have typed in a Google search about a certain topic that led them to my blog. One particular phrase I have seen get searched that led them here quite a few times is,” I’m a tired Mom,” or,”I’m a worn out Momma.” This breaks my heart for these women who are searching the internet for encouragement.

If I personally knew you, whomever you are, I would have you over to my house. I would do my best to clean it so you could walk through the toys, make sure the last kids who went potty flushed, and light a fall smelling candle to hide the smell of burnt cookies I tried to make you. When I heard the doorbell ring I’d check to make sure I didn’t have food smudges on my face from the kids and remind them to please be nice and welcoming! I would give you a big hug around your neck and say, “Oh girl you’re not ALONE!” We would chow down on burnt cookies and coffee while reminding children to share and spill or guts.

Whoever you are sweet friend, please know that any mom who can be real and is worth having as a friend will tell ya that this whole momma thing is no walk in the park. Please don’t look at my blog or any other blog out there for that matter as to how you don’t measure up. Obviously you’re doing something right or you wouldn’t be searching for words of encouragement to pull you up.Unfortunately there is no secret formula to make it easier. We must link arms and push ahead together looking at Jesus who called us to do THIS job, to raise THESE kids, and to do it all with THESE circumstances He has given us. Nobody can do your job the way God called you to do it, not even the supermom down the street who is always pulling out those homemade casseroles at 6:00 on the dot with a spotless kitchen.

God will finish this work He has started in you. Stay faithful to Him. Yes, you will be tired but somewhere there is an inner strength of the Holy Spirit that keeps us putting one foot in front of the other when you may not even want to. Stay the course friend, breathe, keep your eyes on JESUS, and one day your children will produce that fruit you are yearning to see. You’re investing in the eternal, there is no way to measure your worth in God’s eyes. He sees our exhaustion and probably even chuckles when the baby climbs on the table for the millionth time. Through all of this He is growing us and giving us sweet memories to look back on and think, “How the heck did we make it?”

So friend, if your reading this today, just remember you were equipped long ago for this job. Take those negative thoughts captive that tell you you’re not good enough, and remember who’s you are. Rest in that today until you can climb in that bed again tonight with a smile on your face knowing you’re doing the work of God.

Linked to Raising Arrows

I am 100% preaching to myself in this post. How often do we, “Act like kids,” with our children. Sadly, I don’t do it often enough. To get down on the floor with them and share in their deep belly, throw your head back kind of laugh is what I’m talking about. How often do I throw the grown up attitude out the door and race to the swing set to be the first to go down the slide? I know… It’s hard to do sometimes. Not because we don’t want to, but because the thoughts circling our minds are in constant motion. To toss them to the side for a moment we fear we will lose control (Not that we ever felt like we are in control anyways.) Most moms desire to be fun mommas. This doesn’t mean that you run yourself ragged running them to every function, or that your take your hat of authority off to put on the one of a best friend. It means that you want their memories to be sweet of you. I want them to see me laughing it off when they get drenched in the hose outside. I want to feel their  hand in mine as we run through a sprinkler, or even stay up a little later for the aggravating pillow fights they like to have:)

These babies of ours only get one childhood. Lets give them one they will want to talk on and on about when thy are older with their own children. My desire is to show them how to laugh at themselves, to lay in the backyard watching stars, and to point out the beauty of creation that God has put all around us. I desire to make it magical, memorable, and full. With God’s help everyday I CAN give this gift to my children. Maybe this is yet another reason God wants to give children so that we will take our minds off all the serious stuff for a bit and focus on the pure and sweet stuff that He has blessed us with in this world.

Linked to Raising Arrows

Let go of  imperfection, inadequacies, and comparisons. Let go of failures, inexperience, and your negative self image. Let go of discouraging thoughts, satan’s whispers, and the lies. Let go of the guilt, time restraints, and the fast pace. Let go of the uncrossed to do list, unmade beds, and dirty dishes. Let go of meals from scratch, frustration toward kids, and a bad attitiude toward your husband.

Instead…

Hold on to God’s perfection through your faith, your more than adequate in God’s eyes. Hold on to friendships that push you to grow. Hold on to memories of failures to see how far God has bought you. Hold on to the verse that tells you that you were made in the image of God. Hold onto every experience, they are gifts to share with others. Hold onto  encouraging thoughts, prayers, and truth. Hold on to God’s grace, freedom from the clock, and savoring moments. Hold onto people who made your to do list long, slept in the beds, and made the dirty dishes. Hold on to cereal and corndogs. Hold on to the hugs around your neck and a man by your side.

Here is to letting go of things in order to hold on more tightly to the most important.

So the other day I had the opportunity to have 3 hours all by myself at home, not one kiddo was with me. Man, did I get a ton of stuff done! I was able to get all of my tutor stuff together to meet with our home school group the next day. I emptied the dishwasher, reloaded it, took out the trash, put away folded laundry, ate some snacks, and even had supper cooking when everyone returned. Honestly, I felt more accomplished than I had in awhile. I had on clothes without food all over them, my hair was down and brushed, and my home was neat and orderly.

During all of the busyness to cross off my to to do list I caught myself thinking, “This is awesome! All I need is maybe once a week of this and I might could stay on top things.” I immediately felt convicted. It’s funny how God will give you what you think you need only to reveal your sinful nature, and show us what we REALLY need.Why is it that my perception of accomplishment involves no clutter? If I really think about it, the days I truly accomplish the work God has set before me, and do it well you will find me with more stains on my shirt to count, hair in a messy pony tail, markers and coloring books covering the table, and my kitchen spices all over the kitchen floor. All the kids stink from rolling around outside in the dirt, but they are laughing and dancing when Daddy comes home. This day to day life of children scattered at my feet as I try to manage our home is an example of Jesus and His love. If I am by myself then no one is learning, not even me. When Jesus was on this earth He faced distraction after distraction as He was trying to disciple people for His kingdom. On one occasion He was on His way to heal someone on their death bed, when a woman stopped and pulled on His robe to get His attention. He stopped, and gave her healing and love. On another occasion children were even running up to Him as He was doing what most would consider more important work. Jesus recognized the importance and saw that these were God ordained situations to share His love. Even His disciples were trying to push them away but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” Yes, these kids can be a distraction…or is it all the other things that are the true distraction???

The relationships we are forming and our perspective on distractions that mess up our routine have the chance to be life altering, and world changing. To look at these children in the eye and let them know that they truly matter, are loved, and that I have their best interest. I’ll do great for awhile, then the girl who wants to pretend she’s perfect creeps back in and wants the laundry caught up, with spotless floors. I am slowly realizing that at times this can be accomplished, but it is not reality on a day to day basis. There are children who need to be cuddled, read to, pushed on the swing, bathed, fed, and basically just need their momma’s love. In this stage of life with another sweet one on the way, and God willing more in the future, I will be in this stage for quite awhile. When I can drop my need for perfection is when God brings in the true freedom and the joy of motherhood. This is what God does for me every day. He is grabbing my face every day, looking at me in the eye, and reminding me of His love. This is exactly what He has called me to do. Imagine if our children, their children’s children etc.. put people ahead of things to be accomplished. This world would be a much sweeter, richer place and their life would be so full. Mommas, it starts with us right here right now.

This is a picture of the kids licking cookie dough off the beaters:)

To whom it may concern in the world,

I’ll never forget the excitement as Tim and I shared the news that we were expecting our first baby. We tried to take heed to all the advice and words of wisdom. “Oh you just wait, your life will soon be over. No more lazy afternoons, and say good-bye to full nights of sleep forever.”

Well…thank goodness you were wrong. This little girl God has given us lays her head on our chest and put us to sleep instantly. She is the beginning of our life, and the sweetest addition we could have ever imagined.

Soon, advice and words of wisdom began to tell us, “Oh you just wait till she’s a toddler! She will be into everything. You’ll never get a break and trust me, you will not be wanting children anytime soon when they hit that stage.”

Well…thank goodness you were wrong. This rambunctious baby can throw a ball, and blow kisses that melt your heart. When I need a break from the world she is our entertainment. She is such a joy, in fact we are welcoming another one of these little life changers.

Advice and words of wisdom then began to tell us, “First of all your crazy, and secondly you just wait till she gets to that sassy elementary age. Then your throwing another in the mix! They will tag team against you and make you crazy.”

Well…thank goodness you were wrong. This intelligent little girl can carry on conversations with us and knows just what to say to make you feel better. Her prayers are heard and her songs carry through the house. She encourages that sweet little sister of hers and states they are best friends. It is amazing to watch them play and interact. Life is so full of joy that we keep craving more. They have a sweet baby brother coming soon.

Then the advice and wisdom told us. You can’t possibly afford all of them! Your marriage won’t be able to handle the stress! What about vacations, cars, or gasp…college! Besides it’s not safe on your body to have your children so close together.”

Well… thank goodness you were wrong. We live in more prosperity and life’s richness than we could have ever dreamed of. Our marriage is firm, grounded, and not shaken by circumstances. These children of ours are the glue. My body is doing just what it was designed to do and for that I am so thankful.

So my advice and words of wisdom would be to root for success in everyone that is seeking God. Your loosing your credibility at every blessing we encounter. I encourage you to not let this world talk you out of your passions or God’s calling, and may you always get the words of wisdom worth listening to.

I saw a quote once that read, “Are you sheltering your children? Good for you!” It made me take a step back think of how negatively people (myself included) can take the word sheltering or overprotection. We often forget that this is our job to protect and shelter them from the storms of life. Why is it that the so called, “Good,” parents expose their children too early to the hatred of this world. Some would even consider them responsible. They are essentially robbing their children of their sweet innocent years. I wish I were still sheltered for goodness sakes! I would love to not know about all the terrible things that go on around me!

With that being said I don’t think there is such a thing as sheltering your kids too much. I think the difference lies in how we as parents are EQUIPPING them. The definition of equip is to supply them with the necessary items for a particular purpose. As we, the over protective parents, prayerfully allow our children to be exposed to our world we should simultaneously be providing them with the necessary and accurate information to help mold their ideas into a Biblical world view.

This can all go wrong in two ways. The first is that we have no gate, sensors, or watch over our children. We assure ourselves by thinking that they will learn it soon anyway. This gives the devil an extreme advantage to whisper lies into their ear and can leave us with arms up in their teenage years wondering what happened.

This scenario could also go the opposite way. We pull our gate and reigns back so tightly that there are never any discussions as they grow or opportunity for God to use them to bring tough issues to light.

In either scenario there is no equipping. Both can be negligent in their own ways. It’s a tough job. We must pray continually for discernment on the right times and things that are appropriate to expose them to and how best to do it. Also a prayer of how to best prepare them for the challenges they will face with knowing information.

I personally am nowhere near the point of exposing my children to anything outside our Christian bubble at this point. My oldest is quite a curious and inquisitive soon to be five year old. As of now I am giving her one of the greatest gift I can by keeping her that wild child girl that flips cart wheels everywhere she goes.

I can begin to equip her now by teaching her to sit like a lady, be kind when you don’t want to be, and pray about everything. There is a fine line to this parenting thing. We must constantly pray for wisdom and guidance.

Ever feel like your in a whirlwind of perfection everywhere? I just don’t understand why all of the kid’s craft pins on Pinterest have sparkling clean kitchen in the background with a toddler holding a sparkly paper towel roll with pipe cleaners sticking out of it. Y’all know you’ve seen stuff like this. And if your honest with yourself, like me, you sometimes think, “Dang, I need to be doing that! Why can’t I get myself together enough to have a sparkling clean house filled with sweet crafts from all my children?”

I’m just not convinced that mamas back then had it this tough. Perfection is thrown in our face. Even we ourselves can hide behind our precious Facebook pictures and clever status updates. I don’t know about y’all but I’m ready to be REAL! I don’t have it all together, not even close.

I don’t post in detail about my day often because it would look something like this… My Morning: Today I sprung out of bed and went downstairs as quickly as possible, excited beyond belief to spend some time with God?? Nope! Y’all, it’s to be by myself with my coffee! (I know that is terrible…I’m jut being real here.) About five minutes later I hear little footsteps so I roll my eyes, then automatically feel guilty because I know one day I will miss this. I cuddle with her for a few minutes till I fix her breakfast, then start to clean the kitchen from the night before, mad at myself the entire time that I did that again… I start to hear the other ones wake up so I load the dishwasher as quickly as I can because the baby likes to climb in it.

See what I mean?? I’m thinking I’m not the only one who has mornings like this. (I hope not)

Let’s take the mask off mamas and start being real. We need each other. Let’s talk and blog about how we sat in our messy kitchens and read to unbathed children in pajamas. Let’s stop pretending that we have it all together, because we don’t, and we never will. They are raising us just as much as we are raising them. Today I’m boycotting perfection and I’m gonna wrap my arms around God’s grace and my stinky children and enjoy every moment.

Are ya with me? Subscribe and share what you are boycotting today!

This is one of my greatest desires, to fully embrace motherhood. Motherhood is the relationship between myself and my children. This quote really puts things in perspective for me, “Motherhood is NOT a hobby, it is a calling. It is NOT something to do if you can squeeze time in. It is what God gave you time for.” -Neil L. Anderson

The relationship with my children is a gift God has given me. I don’t want to take this lightly. Something that has really stuck out to me recently was when I met this couple for the first time. My friend introduced them to me as her homeschool cheerleaders. They explained to me that they had five children and had homeschooled them from the beginning. I said, ” Wow, no wonder your the cheerleaders!” The mother answered back and said, “I can’t take credit, we have really awesome kids. They are so much fun and we are really blessed.” I never realized until that moment how unoften I hear other mothers speak so highly of their children. I do not even know this woman but her comment had such a huge impact on me. It’s true that motherhood is a calling, but just like every good and perfect gift from from the Lord it is meant to be enjoyed, treasured, and celebrated.

My heart is overflowing as I write and think about these littles at my feet. I don’t want to just squeeze in the time anymore. Heck, I don’t even want a clock or calendar. I want the ones that call me Momma a gazillion times a day. I want them to hear me talk of the blessed Woman I am to be their momma to strangers we meet.

I’m linking this post with:

The Prairie Homestead,  A Mama’s story, Raising Arrows, The better Mom,The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Heavenly Homemakers,Time Warp Wife, Thankful Homemaker, Mamal Diane, Teaching What is Good,  A cat like curiosity, Mom’s the word, conerstone cofessions, A proverbs 31 wife, Some of the best things in life are mistakes, Let this mind be in you, A Wise Woman Builds her home, CSAHM Parenting Linkup, Deep Roots at Home, Graced Simplicity, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Hope in Every Season, Jill’s Home remedies, Little Natural Cottage, Our simple country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, The Purposeful Mom, Consider the Lillies, Happy and Blessed Home, Homemaker by Choice, Your Thriving Family, My Joy Filled Life. New Life Steward, Hometead simple, Christian Mommy Blogger, Let this Mind Be in You, Heart Reflected