Relax

Relax, mom. We don’t hear that very often, do we? I hope you’ll embrace the invitation to relax on Mother’s Day. Honestly, maybe we’d do well to relax every other day of the year, too? 

Striving to be the perfect mom will burn us out and stress our families out, too. Our moms weren’t perfect, you and I aren’t perfect, and our daughters won’t be perfect moms, either. So, let’s stop pretending it’s possible. Instead, let’s chill and give our children what they really need. 

LOVE— We all need love at every age and stage of life. From the time we’re the size of a poppy seed, through our growing pain years, and into the twilight of life on this earth, I’m thankful our unchanging God will never stop loving us. He is our never-ending source of compassion. We can dip our empty cups into His well everyday of our lives, then share that love with our families. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). 

TIME & ATTENTION— Stop and look into your big and little child’s eyes. Listen to their hearts. They will soak you in. They need to know they aren’t invisible. Our time and attention gives them a sense of value more than anything they can achieve in a school room or on a sports field. No, we don’t need to be their helicopter friends, but they do need to plug into mom several times a day.

SURRENDER— I used to hate that word. It has the connotation of losing or giving up. But, now that I understand I can trust God with everything I am and everything I’ll ever be, I can surrender my kids and grandkids to Him, too. Although it’s difficut to imagine, God knows them and loves them more than I do. So, daily, and sometimes hourly, we can lay our precious ones into the hands of The Most Precious One. Then we can relax, knowing He will answer our prayers. Sometimes the answer comes quickly, and sometimes it takes a lifetime, but you and I can trust a really big, unchanging, always loving God. He looks into our eyes and listens to our hearts every time we come to Him. 

Relax, mom. You’re in good hands on Mother’s Day and every day. 

“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12). 

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