A Moment for Your Monday

Choices seem to be a daily obstacle as moms: we have to make choices about how to spend our time, what to get done (or not get done), how to feed our little ones, what toys to give them, how to handle meltdowns and tantrums, and even just what color socks to put on them. That's not even to mention bigger decisions like working, schooling, spiritual training, safety or health concerns. We are bombarded every day.

Add to that the pressure we feel from reading blogs, scrolling through Facebook or Pinterest, talking to our pediatricians, or just watching other mom friends. And then it creeps in.

Fear. 

What if my child is forever afraid of being outside because I worry about her touching things and getting sick? What if my child doesn't learn to read in time because I just don't have the energy when I get home from work to play all those cool educational games with him? What if my children develop some horrible disease in adulthood because I didn't buy all organic groceries or I let them play with plastic toys? What if I am just a horrible mother because I wasn't able to breastfeed?

Do any of those sound familiar? What do you fear? What keeps you up at night? What thoughts creep in when you least expect them?

Today, during a moment of your Monday, consider this truth from your Father:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

-2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

Fear is not from God! Let me say that again, because I want you to hear it - fear is NOT from God! It is the result of a sinful, broken world and an enemy who wants to destroy anything good in us. Because the truth is: mothering is good. That intense love you have for your children, that desire to give them the best all the time - it's part of God's Fatherly heart reflected in you, and it is very good.

The fear? That's not part of God's heart at all. 

So trust in this: you are doing your best for your children. I know it, because I know it's God's heart in you for them. By all means - learn, grow, be inspired, and try new things. But when you can't do everything your neighbor does or you're too tired some days to do any more than survive, fear not! Trust yourself, and trust the God who loves and looks out for you and your children.

Today I commit to not mothering out of fear. Will you join me?