Blessing to praise, or not?

Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back in praise...

It's lyrics to a praise song that I dearly love.  After getting "refreshed" at my field leader training event, I was listening to Pandora on the drive home and heard this song.  I was singing at the top of my lungs and loving it, enjoying being in worship and then it HIT me.  Do I really do that?

Sure, I will often sing the blessing song with my children at dinner time and thank God for the food before us.  I pray with them at night before bedtime and sing a prayer song.  I am THANKFUL for the blessings God has given me, but do I truly return praise for EVERY blessing God pours out?  

I'm not so sure I do that.  In fact, I'm guilty of laying down with the kids at night in their beds to say prayers and actually falling asleep while praying or singing the prayer song.  Guilty, guilty, yes, I feel guilty.  And I am aware that guilt is not a foreign thing for most moms.  We often compare ourselves to others to see how we "measure up" and then beat ourselves up for not doing all that we THINK we should be doing.  But have you ever thought about where all that guilt might come from?

Not until recently at a MOPS meeting did our wonderful Discussion Leader clue me in that guilt is a tool often used by Satan.  I'm learning that a lot of guilt comes directly from Satan.  He tries hard to make us feel less than competent - to compare ourselves to other moms and have pity parties for ourselves when we feel we've fallen short.  Yes, I've endured those pity parties and often succumbed to them gotten myself down in a pit of depression.  How about you?

I'd never thought about Satan using it as a tool.  And now, every time I begin to feel myself sliding down that hole of guilt, I STOP and PRAY.  Sometimes it's hard to pray in those moments when you think "why God are you letting this happen to me".  But like another favorite song of mine with lyrics straight from the Bible, God won't give me more than I can handle.  He may let me bend, but he won't let me break.  God's got my back.  I need to continue to grow my faith and lean on him in those times of weakness.  I need to remind myself that I am the King's daughter and he treasures me.  And yes, I need to offer praise for the many blessings.  Even when the kids have been under my feet and literally hanging off of me the entire day.....yes, even then I need to offer praise for the blessings of having kids.  I need to offer praise being able to enjoy the bad times and the good with kids.  Where is your next praise coming from?  

You’re never “just a Mom”
 

               Lauren Holmes, Community Networker, Area 25

                                      

Recently a friend told me that she did not understand how I could work from home, be a mom, a wife, do MOPS, and still stay sane.

While I appreciate words of affirmation, I wanted to make sure that this friend knew that no matter how much it seems like I do, it does not in any way make me better.

So often, we place our value in what we think we are accomplishing, but in reality, what should really matter is that we’re doing God’s will.

Has God called you to be a full time mother to your children?  Then do it to the best of your ability, and know that yours is a high calling regardless of what the world may say.

Has God called you to work outside of the home, or to work from home?  Then give one hundred percent wherever God has placed you, and do not compare yourself to others.

In my own life, God has made me the type of person who is able to do many different tasks.  This does not make me better than anyone else – just different.

I used to envy the moms who were very crafty and could sew beautiful scarves and knit hats for their babies.  I would try and attend the craft nights with them, hoping that by some miracle, their talent would rub off on me.  Needless to say, it did not! 

But what really helped me was when one of the crafty moms said, “I wish I could write like you do…you’re such a wonderful author, and I barely passed English.”  This moms words blessed me so much, and I was able to joke with her about how all this time, I was wishing that I was more crafty like her.

God has different plans for every mom.  His plan may not look like someone else’s, but it’s the plan that He designed perfectly for you!