Oh, there are days! There are days I am stressed. There are days I am frustrated. There are days I am annoyed. And there are days I need a time out. Sometimes the kids don't sleep well; sometimes I don't sleep well. Most of the time the youngest two feel the need to be right on top of me or right underneath me or right where they can inhibit my movement the most. The kids fight. I get tired. The day is long. Daddy is out of town for work. I clean the house only for a mess to be made immediately...without fail. We tidy up after lunch just in time to hear, "Can I have some cheese...some fruit snacks...some____?" (But seriously, do kids EVER stop eating?!?) It's never-ending, this mommy thing.
And sometimes when my husband gets home from work, he needs me. But the kids still need me, too. And all day I feel like I just give, give, GIVE, until there is nothing...nothing! And in my exhaustion I beat myself up over all that I've done wrong during the day, and, believe me, there is always plenty! And I relegate myself to this life of sacrifice, where this is all I have to give, some tired, sometimes moody, frustrated woman.
Ah, but no! I was reminded this week in my Proverbs 31 Ministries OBS that this is not all I have to give. I must return to the fountain of Christ, the living water, to be refreshed and replenished so that what I have to give is daily (sometimes multiple times a day) filled to overflowing, and I can offer myself, sacrifice myself and my desires, to the needs of those around me. Then I can be in a place to notice the people in my home that God has gifted me with as well as those outside my home who need to see Christ in me.
This is all I have to give. A heart full of Christ and brimming with desire to shower His love on those around me.
And sometimes when my husband gets home from work, he needs me. But the kids still need me, too. And all day I feel like I just give, give, GIVE, until there is nothing...nothing! And in my exhaustion I beat myself up over all that I've done wrong during the day, and, believe me, there is always plenty! And I relegate myself to this life of sacrifice, where this is all I have to give, some tired, sometimes moody, frustrated woman.
Ah, but no! I was reminded this week in my Proverbs 31 Ministries OBS that this is not all I have to give. I must return to the fountain of Christ, the living water, to be refreshed and replenished so that what I have to give is daily (sometimes multiple times a day) filled to overflowing, and I can offer myself, sacrifice myself and my desires, to the needs of those around me. Then I can be in a place to notice the people in my home that God has gifted me with as well as those outside my home who need to see Christ in me.
This is all I have to give. A heart full of Christ and brimming with desire to shower His love on those around me.