Motherhood can seem like the most daunting of jobs to do and often the most unappreciated things we will give of our time and energy. If you are a mother, I know you will know what I mean.
I know you are a wonderful mother. You love your children, you are up in the night with them, you keep your home fairly neat, you don't neglect your husband (too much), and over all you are just thrilled to be in this season of your life with little ones in tow all day, through the night, and when you're out and about.
But there are times that you wake up in the morning with that overwhelming feeling of being so totally exhausted from the baby who kept you up during the night. You wonder, like I once did, how you will drive that half hour to town this afternoon without falling asleep at the wheel, you wonder how you will (patiently) homeschool yet another day, and you wonder how you will ever get even a few moments of quiet for just yourself. You feel guilty.
Recently, I was feeling (those crazy unreliable feelings) the burdens in my life and that old familiar feeling of being overwhelmed came flooding back.
You might have several things going on in your life. We mommas might have an emotional meltdown when the burdens pile until there are about five things going wrong (or seemingly wrong) and we collapse under the pile up!!
We forget to pray.
We just collapse under the avalanche!!
When I was feeling terribly distressed, I found a printed post from Elizabeth Elliot that poured encouragement into my heart, though she has passed away. I could hear her voice speaking words of wisdom into my life once again. Our words can speak life even after we are gone from this earth...or speak death into another soul.
She shared a poem from an old Saxon legend which is carved into a stone in England.
Do it immediately,
Do it with prayer,
Do it reliantly,
Casting all care.
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His hand who placed it,
Before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on omnipotence,
Safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
Do the next thing!!
When life just doesn't make sense, when the baby and toddler are both cranky, or when you don't know why but you know you are depressed...just do the next thing.
Elizabeth Elliot has some wonderful books and has had sound encouragement over the years.
Just do the next thing!!
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~Judith~
Oh how I remember these days very well! Now I can pass on the wisdom God gave me to my precious daughters who now have the same challenges raising their children. :) Love the poem; I will forward this to them! :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings and hugs,
Denise
This is a very timely post for me today! Bethany woke twice in the wee hours of the morning convinced that it was time to get up! Love those words which carved in stone!
ReplyDeleteSo timely! I keep running across blogs today that deal with overwhelmed moms, just what I needed to read after spending the weekend on the couch with a baby that could not and would not be put down for very long due to wanting to nurse..and nurse..and nurse some more. I am thankful for a husband who was home yesterday and ran several loads in the dishwasher and several loads of laundry, washed and hung. I am also thankful for the baby sleeping a lot today and being able to accomplish more than the past few days! God knows just what we need, when we need it. :)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to my heart. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an encouraging post- thank you! I so often forget to pray when things get tough and busy!
ReplyDeleteYes, just focusing on that very next thing with the help of our Lord, has gotten me through many a mommy meltdown. And usually when that overwhelming day is over, things are so much brighter. Thanks for sharing this great woman of God's profound wisdom, Judith!
ReplyDeleteHello there! I often do feel overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing your wisdom! I, too live in the sticks!! I'm now following you!
ReplyDeleteI have read that she had to teach a Bible Study the day that she found out that there were five dead bodies and that her husband might be one of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked how she got through those difficult hours of knowing that her husband was probably dead, she said that she prayed and "did the next thing." She just left it in the Lord's hands and went and taught her class.
Doing the next thing relieves us of making any decision during a time of crisis and difficulty and sort of puts us on auto-pilot! That way we can just leave things in the Lord's hands and not stress ourselves with making any big decisions when we don't know what the future holds. We know that He holds the future! Thanks for linking up to "Making Your Home Sing Monday" today!
Here from the Grand Social, and I must admit I've never heard of Elizabeth Elliot and will promptly look up some of her writings; she sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing your words of encouragement- very well timed. BB2U
ReplyDeleteThis is so good, Judith, thank you! I am definitely in that season. This week, especially, has been rough. The 4, 3, and 2 year olds, as well as the baby, have all been sick with the flu for 5 days. That means I've not been able to school the five 6-13 year olds so they've been obnoxious in boredom. To top it off, my poor husband came home tonight sick with it now too! I really need to take a deep breath, let the not-so-important stuff go, and just do the next thing. :) Blessings to you, thanks for linking up!
ReplyDeleteMrs. Sarah Coller
Hi again,
ReplyDeleteI've featured this post in my Homemaking Linkup today! Feel free to grab a "featured" button from the sidebar. Thanks so much for your encouragement!
Mrs. Sarah Coller
Thank you so much for featuring my post. I will try to get over to grab the feature button tonight.
DeleteI hope your children and hubby get feeling better soon. I have been there!!
I will pray for you!!
I had many days as a mother of young daughters that this would have come in handy. Time is a bit more calm of late, at least when it comes to dealing with little ones.
ReplyDelete