Aha! Aha! A few weeks ago, a light bulb went off. I was sitting at a women’s conference (Tara Furman’s uh-maz-ing “Making a Difference in My Generation” conference), listening intently, taking notes, when all of the sudden a distracting thought smacked me across the face. Really. She was talking about something mostly unrelated. But, still, somehow in the midst of her words, a thought came over me and I haven’t been able to shake it.
It’s about that good ‘ole Mommy Guilt. Some of you know it well. Some of you don’t let it bug you. Either way, get this — All of the “mommy guilt” (or, honestly, any guilt for that matter) that we are always talking about/thinking about/fretting about — IT’S NOT REAL! Hello, people! Oh. My. Gosh. It’s just so simple all of the sudden. It’s so clear. How did we not see it all along? It’s just not real. Can it be?! Can it be that easy. Holy freedom! All it is … all the “guilt” really is, is the devil telling us that we aren’t enough. IT’S THE DEVIL TELLING US THAT WE AREN’T ENOUGH. That sneaky little bastard. He whispers it. He yells it. When we are running late. When our houses are littered with toys. When we work an extra hour one night. When we ignore work to read two more bedtime stories. When we let the littles eat waffles for dinner. When we forgot to put a single veggie on their plate. When the library books are overdue. He whispers quietly, “Hhhheeeyyyyy, you should have done better. You should be more. You should get it together. You should be able to do. it. all……” He whispers these little lies in our ears and we believe him. But, y’all, he’s a liar! He’s a notorious liar! He wants us to think we aren’t enough. But we ARE! We are ENOUGH! He wants us to think God doesn’t love us; that God doesn’t have our backs. But, He DOES! We are amazing mothers! We work hard. In and out. Every single day. We love. We give. We pray. We try. We fall. We get back up. We’ve got this. “The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you” (Deut. 33:27a) and … WE ARE ENOUGH! Repeat after me:
So, whatever is guilting you today. Give it up. Turn it over. March on. You got this! Don’t forget. God made you. He loves you. YOU are exactly who you need to be.
