Why Is Motherhood So Hard? (Encouragement for Weary Moms)
The dim glow of daylight rises over the tree line, and I stare at the light as it ascends mandarin over the shadows. “Why is motherhood so hard?” I whisper.
The thousands of quiet struggles of motherhood have worn me thin lately.
This morning, I make up my mind not to complain. I will give thanks instead.
Nevertheless, I’m still tired.
Why Is Motherhood So Hard?
There are fleeting moments when I remember life before children: The way my boss affirmed my efforts at work; the way my friends cheered me on for following my dreams; and the public accolades of my teaching career. It seemed people were quick to applaud my efforts in those past seasons of life.
Motherhood is different.
No one cheers or tells you they could never do what you’re doing because, frankly, billions of women have done exactly what you’re doing. They have held fussy babies through the night, swaddled and re-swaddled little bodies dozens of times, and surrendered to the full-time work of keeping little bellies filled.
The labor that goes with motherhood is simply part of the territory, and no one applauds, because they expect you to do the hard and humbling work.
Motherhood is hard and humbling work, but it matters deeply.
As mothers, we are sustaining life.
Our little bundles will grow tall and strong and have opportunities to be world-changers, all because we kept going. We kept nursing and rocking and nudging the pacifier back into tiny mouths.
The work of motherhood is exhausting and often mind-numbing, but it matters deeply. We are touching the future through this hard and humbling work.
Raising Our Children Is Eternal Work
While we go about touching the future by pouring into little lives, there are lessons to be gleaned through the struggles of motherhood. Motherhood holds the power to change us in the very best ways if we live with receptive hearts amid our weariness.
Motherhood has challenged me more than I ever imagined, but it has also changed me in ways I never thought possible.
Here are a few words of encouragement for the weary mothers who are asking, “Why is motherhood so hard?”
1. The struggles of motherhood hold the power to shape you into the image of Love.
Motherhood is an invitation to die to your own needs thousands and thousands of times, and most of these are quiet and unseen deaths.
It’s an invitation to give up the freedom to eat with both hands for months (or years) on end. It’s an invitation to fast from sleep: to live on sporadic hours and minutes of sleep for months, while everyone just smiles and tells you it will pass.
We can fight the call to die, but fighting will only lead to frustration.
Instead, when the struggles of motherhood call us to die to our needs and desires, we can allow these thousands of quiet deaths to shape us into the image of Love.
We can surrender our needs, desires, and preconceived “rights,” putting the needs of our little ones in front of our own, and taking the shape of the One who put our needs before His.
2. Motherhood holds the power to soften your rough edges.
Motherhood will harden us if we let the demands lead us to pursue hurry, power, and control. I’ve spent years of motherhood trying to force my agenda instead of accepting the reality of my actual life.
Motherhood is an invitation to learn to accept that you are not in complete control of your schedule.
Instead of hurrying or grasping to stay in control of your agenda, motherhood is an invitation to let the interruptions soften you. It is an invitation to let the interruptions teach you to live with open hands, realizing that this life truly is not your own.
3. The struggles of motherhood hold the power to deepen you.
Many of the older women in my life seem to have deep souls. They don’t get worked up about things like traffic jams, burnt toast, or milk spilled on vinyl floors. They have learned to laugh deeply and love gently.
Every struggle of motherhood is an opportunity to practice becoming the woman you want to be. When you let the struggles teach you how to laugh instead of weeping, snuggle instead of yelling, and teach instead of barking orders, you are allowing the struggles of motherhood to deepen you.
When you let the struggles of parenthood teach you how to laugh instead of yelling and respond gently instead of barking orders, you are allowing the calling to shape you into the image of Love. #motherhood #Christianparenting Click To TweetWhy Is Motherhood So Hard? A Free Devotional for Every Weary Mom:
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Calling all mothers and daughters!
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