Guest Post: Mom. Mother. Mommy. Mama

GUEST POST from Carissa

Mom. Mother. Mommy. Mama.

There are many different names and thoughts that come to mind when we think of what it means to be a mom.

No one can fully explain how amazing it is when you give birth & finally meet your first baby. It’s beyond words. Birth in and of itself is amazing! The more I learn about the birth process, the more I see how God is just a pure genius and so amazing.

There are no words to explain the deep, deep love you will feel for your child.

You never dreamed you would have so much fun watching him/her grow up & learn new things.

You can’t comprehend it when someone says that you will think it’s great or cute when your kid gets their first tooth, takes their first step or runs off bare nakey in the middle of a diaper change. I’m quite guilty of letting Bowin do that much too often because I get such a kick out of his expression when he hurriedly runs off in the nude. He thinks he is so fast & clever. One of these days I will have to put a stop to it, but for now, he is too cute to resist.

On the flip side, it’s one thing to know your kid is going to test & push you and cause you to react in ways you never thought you would do, & one thing to actually be there & experience it.

No one tells you that there will come a day when you breathe a sigh of relief when you get them down for naps.

Or that sometimes you want to run away for just a second to a land where you don’t have to worry about anyone else’s needs except yours.

When I had my first, it was amazing. I was in love with being a mommy & suddenly became so excited when others became pregnant because I knew how awesome being a mother was. It was so much fun!! I wanted more of these cuties!

Then I had my second and a 3 year old. This being a mommy thing became a whole new ball park. In the midst of cleaning house, wiping butts, tackling food battles & training little hearts, I started losing my joy. It was still there dimly lit in the recesses of my heart but it was brought down to just a tiny flame by reality. My joy was being choked out by the endless dishes, chasing after boys disobeying again, discipline hurdles and all the things that come with the territory, or rather the kids. Being a mommy is so much work and down right tiring & discouraging at times. Some days it’s really hard to work up the gumption to have the right perspective. For me personally, perspective is everything.

I love these excerpts from Beyond Bath Time by Erin Davis:

What if, for now, you are your child's mission field? What if all the ways they challenge you are designed to teach you about your own fleshly heart & sinful tendencies-and thus remind you of your own desperate need for a Savior? Could their acts of disobedience remind you of the ugliness of your own disobedience toward God? If your role is to point your children to Christ & their role is to make you more like Him, you are working together on an important mission indeed."

I find that so true! I didn’t quite realize how little patience I have or how short tempered I can be at times until having kids, or rather a toddler….x2! I often feel bad for my boys that they got me as a mom. Oh, I work on having patience, take a lot of deep breaths & say quick little prayers praying for strength & wisdom through out the day. But no matter how hard I try, I cannot escape the fact that I’m a fallen creature in desperate need of a Savior. And so are my boys. Not a good combination sometimes. Nothing has brought me to my knees & showed me how desperately I need Jesus like mothering. God is interested in molding & changing me for eternity. If life was easy & our kids always behaved, how would we grow?

So, instead of grumbling about how often I have to get after my boys to clean up their toys or for digging in something they aren't supposed to be in…again, I choose to “make the changes to live out God’s calling for mothers with greater joy, urgency and a sense of purpose instead of continuing to drown in the woes that come with my role.” (Beyond Bath Time) And you know what? When I chose to live that way & change my perspective and adjust my priorities to training my boys, I fall in love with being a mommy all over again. I enjoy my boys thoroughly. I laugh & smile with them. I want to shout to the world how awesome being a mommy is!!

Dear mommies, I want to encourage you. I know how hard being a mom is. I know how frustrating, aggravating, annoying…yet fulfilling, awesome, & rewarding it is. We are in this together. Let’s pray for each other & lift each other up on the hard days. Let’s share those funny quirks we love about our kids. The ones no one else understands unless they are mommies themselves. Let’s focus on the simple little joys. “Sure, there will be hard days and harder days, but focus on the simple, good things...Pretend you are a little girl, full of expectation and dreams of motherhood. Float with your babies around the room and zoom around the neighborhood with your real stroller. May we start to look at motherhood through the innocent, fresh eyes of a young girl playing house. Because to them motherhood is a joy. And, I think, that's just what our Heavenly Father wants motherhood to be."