If you are a mom, you likely start this day with certain hopes and expectations. Maybe they are beautifully met, perhaps they are exceeded, and then sometimes they may be dashed on the rocks. Holidays come in strange packages sometimes.
However, there is one voice singing over you today.
There is one affirmation I can hear Him say.
“You are Beautiful. You are a good mother.” This is for you to receive without a price tag. You don’t need to review your children’s behavior, your spouse’s support, your own sense of accomplishment or failure. If you are like me, you will never measure up anyway. Do you sing your child to sleep, do you make everything from scratch, and do you float into the room full of patience and understanding with a cheery glow while you dance with the broom? Yes I am exaggerating.
However the point is that there is always a voice that will show you how you could be better.
Today, you can receive “better” and you can tell that voice “I am not listening because I am as I should be!”
One of the root meanings of righteousness is “as it should be”. Jesus, by His perfect life of obedience, his death, and his resurrection has made us the “righteousness of God in Christ”. We are as we should be in Him.
We are good mothers .
Let His love and acceptance wash over you today. Drink in the rain of His Spirit as it nurtures the seeds of your soul. He has put certain desires, expectations, joys, tendencies, in you. As you are honest and express who you are, your garden will grow. Yes you will find weeds to pull, but you will find them uncomfortable and you will naturally submit to His gentle cultivation as life becomes sweeter letting the Master Gardener guide.
To be more direct, perfectionist Christians often try so hard to be some ideal version of themselves that life becomes labor. I should sacrifice. I should do things this way. I have found that I am a better mom when I learn to relax, when I approach things with the energy that I really have (instead of over-committing), and when I watch for the red flag of dread. When I really dread something, I often need to consider if I should avoid it entirely or if there is a way I can do it with joy. Maybe it’s time to simplify.
Do what you can do with joy.
The joy of the Lord is your strength and His peace is your guide.
He is giving you a gift today. Receive His approval. He sees you as a success and gives you His gift of righteousness. You are as you should be.
Maybe you’re a little messy, maybe you’re a little loud, maybe you like to shop a little too much,… Whatever the quirk you have, you are His treasure. He puts His love in your heart and loves others through you, an imperfect vessel filled with Perfect Love. It isn’t about fixing your vessel; it’s about letting Him fill your vessel. Let go of the fear. Receive His gifts.
I pray He lets you enjoy what you enjoy today and that He opens your eyes to the way He is loving you. What a big beautiful love.
