The Trials of Motherhood

Motherhood is perhaps the most rewarding and trying position of all time. "Motherhood" meaning the qualities of being a mother. So what makes a mother?

MOTHERhood - There isn't a manual. One day you're a fully functioning adult and the next your a mindless, sleepless, lifeless blob. Your body is shot and every ounce of your being is literally and figuratively being sucked up by this new life. Your friends and relatives all think this new creation is so cute, but in truth there are moments when you think you just won't have enough strength to change another diaper. That is a very real part of being a mother.

MotherHOOD - If you survive the baby years after having sacrificed your life and body, you are still left with the reality that your child does not always appreciate you. Sometimes your child becomes a hood, other times you feel like you live in the hood. You are now a taxi driver for your child and numerous others as you navigate a sea of minivans. Your underappreciated, overworked and often alone. And sometimes you feel like your being sucked to the dark side of motherhood.

MOTHERHOOD - Somehow in the end it balances out. Mothers of adult children suffer from a wonderful form of early alzheimer's called motheritis. You forget all the trials and tribulations and suddenly that little hood that kept you awake at night is your angel and your daughter wonders how you made it look so easy when your first grandchild appears. And the cycle goes on and now you can't remember who you were except for being a mother. A new crisis appears and you find yourself rediscovering who you are apart from your child.

When life is out of balance. That's how it usually goes. A mom lives just on this side of sanity. She looks like she's holding it all together but deep down she questions, she stresses, and feels frequent hurt from the same child that with a small hug can bring great joy. This is perfectly natural. Our first mother, Eve, was cursed with not only the pain of actual childbirth but with the pain of relationship. She and all women would desire close relationships with their husband and children but would never completely experience that. In our broken world many mothers are mothers far younger than they should be because they believed some boy's lie. Other mothers are alone because a husband has left them and without financial and emotional support in addition to all the normal stresses of motherhood it is a miracle they survive. It is easy in this scenario to lose hope.

Extreme hopelessness. When the balance tips too far and mom's get lost we read the tragic headlines of mothers stabbing their children hundreds of times, drowning them, putting them in a car and leaving the car running and other cases of murder. We wonder how can this happen and yet we live such busy, isolated, lives that it is perhaps more incredible that we do not see it more often. Mom's need help and support. Mom's need encouragement and not just one day a year. Motherhood is the hardest job there is and while it may have the greatest rewards those rewards are not without extreme costs. So can any mother survive? Well the truth is there is hope.

Hope for mothers. In the midst of the storms of parenting there can be peace. Peace that comes from He who calmed the storms. He gave us the manual for life (there actually is a parenting manual) in the Bible and it is the best instruction book for surviving the difficult storms of life. Paul wrote this encouragement: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:1-5.

So keep persevering moms. There is great hope. But do not feel like you have to face the challenges of motherhood alone. If you need someone to talk to give us a call or e-mail. Motherhood. It is a great challenge, an awesome reponsibility and a wonderful privilege. God bless mothers - without them we would not be where we are today! Happy well deserved mother's day.

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