Thursday, March 3, 2016

Beyond Motherhood: How I am learning to take care of myself, and how it has changed our lives.





Parenting is hard.  Putting someone else's needs before your own.  Changing our world completely to help them know that they are loved.  Changing ourselves so they never, ever doubt our devotion.

When you have toothpicks holding your eyes open because the baby was up every hour.

When your toddler needs help with their food, and your own plate of food gets cold.

When you haven't showered, or gotten dressed, or changed pajamas, because all the little voices keep needing more, and more, and more, and you simply have no energy left.

Their needs, because it's all about them.

But should it be?

As a mom, I feel like I totally have their basic needs covered.  You know, like the food, shelter, safety, clothing, love, and education stuff.  We even get to add the extras; sports, vacations, trips to the bakery, toys to play with, scheduled play dates, nature walks, field trips, books to read, tea time, attending church, sleep overs...  My children are thriving.

I love them so much (and for the most part, I just love to be around them).

Yet, when did it become a requirement that in order to be a good mom, you had to put all of your own needs aside, and focus solely on them?

I'm talking about the giving up who you are as an individual, as a Child of God, as a creative, artistic, and passionate person, to focus solely on them?

Now, I don't know what stage of parenting you are in.  It's going to look different for each of us.  Plus, I believe that motherhood is one of the most important ministries that God calls us to.

I'm not talking about neglecting your children, or treating them like they are not loved, or not cared for, or not important to you.

What I'm thinking about-

What I want you to think about is- 

Where is the line between need and want?

If we have a better balance between these two things, would we have more time to do things that interest us?  To develop our own selves?  

As a mom, am I done with all things that are not related to motherhood?

Join me as I explain how I stopped doing everything my children wanted, took a lot of self-imposed pressure off myself, found out that I am a person outside of just being a mom, and how my whole family has benefitted from me taking care of me.

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