It has been some kind of week, y’all. Honestly, I was tempted to just not do a Mom Talk this week. But, then, I thought – just maybe – it has been some kind of week for some of you, too.

The baby, which had been sleeping beautifully for several weeks, reverted back to waking up every hour. Believe me when I say that I do not do well without sleep. I’m cranky and irritable and not all that pleasant to live with. The hubs had some sort of stomach bug that had him out of commission all week. It was all I could do to make it through the day without crying because I knew I was being a grumpy mom/wife/person in general.

To finish off the week, my infant woke up yesterday with hair wrapped around two of her toes and it was cutting off the circulation. How did I not notice that during one of the ten times she woke up during the night? I’m not even kidding when I tell you that I prayed over and over again, “Lord, please do not punish her because she has a bad mom. It’s not her fault.” Dramatic, much? Then, as my four year old is getting dressed, she cuts herself on a fishing hook that was INSIDE HER SWEATER. I just don’t even know, y’all. How could I have not noticed a fishing hook as I was folding laundry? I felt like I should just wear a “bad mom” label at that point because, seriously.

However, in the middle of this not so great week, I also did some things well. I took one child to volunteer at a food pantry. {Funny side note: this is my oldest child and she is just reaching this age where she actually turned to me and asked if I could not stand so close to her. Because, well, heaven forbid anyone thinks she has a mom! I adore that child, by the way, so I found myself another place to stand.} I remembered to play tooth fairy for another child and I didn’t even have to take the money from one of the kids’ piggy banks. {Please tell me someone else has done that.} I actually sat down and played with my two year old without feeling like I should really be doing something else.

I guess what I’m saying is that you are a far better mom than you probably, at times, think. Your children are not lying in their beds replaying every mistake you made that day. Truth be told, they do not even see some of the things that you think are mistakes. So, I have a challenge for us this week. Every night, as you and I are in our beds tempted to beat ourselves up, what if we listed everything God had enabled us to do right? It doesn’t have to be in a fancy journal. I don’t care if you write it on the back of your grocery list. But I want us to do this.

For instance, maybe you tend to over react to spilled food or messes made and you’re praying for a little more patience in that area. Well, if there is a day when little Suzie Q spills her milk all over the table and you find that you didn’t lose your temper, write it down. Or, perhaps, an unexpected bill comes in the mail. Normally, you would be tempted to despair but you realize that you just placed it in the stack and that the usual anxiety did not immediately take control. High five, God.

I believe Satan enjoys when we play the I’m-a-bad-mom game because the focus is all on us and we become oblivious to the areas where God is actually working on us. Read Luke 10:11. Jesus was sending out the disciples to spread the gospel and he was referring to the cities who chose to not receive them and their message. He tells the disciples to just shake the dust off of their feet and move on, but to be sure to tell them that “the kingdom of God has come near.” Jesus wanted those people to realize that God had come near and that they had missed it.

Lord, do not let us be women who are so caught up in ourselves that you would come near and we would miss it. I just can’t think of anything more heartbreaking than that. 

Please email me some of your highlights of the week! I would love to praise Him right along with you.

I love y’all more than Nutella on a graham cracker. 🙂