Motherhood is a Tough Gig

Being a mom can be hard.

There are some days where being a mother is overwhelming, challenging, humbling and tiring. It is filled with stress, strain, and guilt.

Do you know the feeling? You have a good day, and then the next is a disaster. You find your patience and then you loose it. You feel okay about your mothering job and then wake to see your inadequacies blaring back at you like a giant spot light.  

All the while knowing that you are responsible for your children's physical, emotional and spiritual well being. And that their futures lie in your hands. No pressure.

Around these parts it has been a long month. We have had breakfast for dinner too often and I am pretty sure my kids think their clean clothes will always be unfolded in the basement instead of in their drawers. I have felt stretched too thin and out of sorts.

And then.... just when I think the sun will never shine and the challenge is too great,

our baby climbs on my lap to snuggle for a story...

our five year old wants to give me extra hugs...

and I overhear our children "sharing" in the basement while they play.

It is then that I am able to see through the intensity that is motherhood.

It is then that I am reminded of how rewarding motherhood is.

It has provided me an opportunity to love with an intensity I didn't know was possible...

laugh so hard I can't breath...

cry for joy until my head hurts...

It is a refining process that stretches me to my limits and provides opportunities for great growth.

There is nothing that shows me my strengths and weaknesses faster than being a mother.

There is no where I would rather be, and nothing I would rather be doing.

No matter how long and hard the day, my greatest joys have, and will always come from this challenge of raising children.