10 Truths about Mothering that Will Save Your (Mother's) Life!

It’s almost OUR day, fellow mums. I don’t know if you’ll get flowers, a sprinkled donut, breakfast in bed, a card. Maybe all of it; maybe none of it. What I needed most when raising my 6 kids, a daughter and 5 sons, was a shield, combat boots, a referee uniform, a helmet, a sheriff’s badge, a taser, my own bathroom and a coupon for a day to myself. (Just kidding on the taser. But remember——5 boys. In a row. Alaskan boys. See?)

AND——I needed some truth. Some real truth to get me through. NOT the placebo kind. Not the fake Christian kind that used to be so common, based on formulas, guilt, behaviorism and perfectionism.

Here’s some of what I discovered (and probably you too) over the last 3 decades:

They DO grow up. And all those fears—-almost every one of them—-has not come true. ( No one has permanently maimed a sibling. [Or anyone.] No one is an anarchist. No one is a professional gamer. No one has burned a house down.)

And It’s not over, thank God. Now, this very month, grandparenting has begun. And I’m still learning how to mother my wonderful adult children.

I hope it never ends.

May I end with a blessing? This from my friend Daniel Darling:

We ask you to be the daily bread of tired mothers. We ask you to be their living water. We ask you to be their source of spiritual and physical strength. We pray that the same grace that flowed from Father to Son to us in salvation will flow from mothers to their children. We pray that each mother rejects perfectionism and instead embraces the goodness of the gospel. We pray the rhythms of repentance and forgiveness shape every home.

Most of all, Lord, on this day in which we honor mothers, may we love and cherish the special women who have born us, who have nurtured us, and who have prayed for our well-being. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to you, who formed and knitted each of us in a mother’s womb.  Amen.  - Daniel Darling

( Still dealing with guilt over your imperfections? Maybe this will help—a biblical view written in the trenches of my own imperfect parenting. I chose the 9 most dangerous myths of parenting and found glorious relief, truth and freedom from the Scriptures—-all of them, not two or three verses [often taken out of context]) : https://tinyurl.com/yd7857db

Fellow Mums, what did I miss? What’s one key truth that kept you going through the trench years of mothering?