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A Mother’s Nighttime Blessings

November 30, 2017 by Megan

a homeschool mother's nighttime blessings
A good night’s sleep—that elusive goal of every mom—often remains underappreciated by the general population. If you’re like me, you’ve spent many long nights feeding hungry babies, nursing sick children, and comforting little ones.

I distinctly remember the exuberant joy I felt the first time my firstborn slept five hours straight at night—an event worthy of a Facebook status update! But unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the sleepless nights. My little girl soon started teething. Then came the occasional ear infections, coughing spells, and stomach bugs. Summer thunderstorms rolled in, and imaginary nighttime monsters peeked into rooms. Sleep became like a much-longed-for-friend who only occasionally came to visit.

Confession

And I have a confession to make: I love sleeping. So at first I resented being awakened at 2:00 a.m. by a screaming child. I longed to be able to push a “pause” button on mothering and snuggle under the covers for a good nap. But mothering, as you well know, does not fit into a tidy 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. schedule. It never stops.

I don’t think I will ever manage being woken at 2:00 a.m. with a smile on my face. But the Lord has been showing me how I can make the best of these unexpected wake-up calls.

Focus

Even though it is often more difficult in the nighttime hours, I can focus on exemplifying Christ to my children. Several times the Gospels tell us of how Christ had compassion on the multitudes even when He was physically weary. He never complained. He never sent them away. When I get up in the middle of the night to take care of my children, more than just being a good mom, I am living the love of Christ for them.

Additionally, these nighttime adventures provide me with more opportunities to fulfill the commandment of Deuteronomy 6:7 to talk to our children continually about God. When my little one is awakened from a nightmare or by a bad storm, I can comfort her with reminders that God is always watching over us, protecting His sons and daughters. When I’m rocking a sick child back to sleep, I can sing songs about God’s love and mercy.

And most of all, when I’m lacking sleep, I am continually reminded of my need to rely on the Lord’s strength. With countless other sleep-deprived moms, I echo the psalmist in Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”

Ultimately, at the end of the long days that follow the sleepless nights, I am most blessed when I realize again that the Lord has sustained me.

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Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: blessings, motherhood, nighttime, parenting

Cycle of Life, Circle of Love

May 5, 2016 by Guest Writer

When you first imagined motherhood, you may have envisioned glowing, beautiful moments—rocking a soft, sleeping baby in a lovely nursery, or leading a wide-eyed toddler through a world full of wonders.

Then the tiny human arrives, and you feel waves of powerful love, more love than you knew you had. At the same time, your life gets very, very hard. You live from moment to moment—struggling to stay awake during yet another midnight feeding, or carrying a protesting toddler out of the grocery store for yet another lesson in obedience.

You want to freeze your little ones in time so that you can enjoy their sweetness forever; yet you can’t wait for them to grow up a little so that you can have a few moments to rest.

Time inevitably ticks away.

Your daughter dissolves in tears over a squabble with a friend, and you comfort her. Your son becomes frustrated over a tough subject, and you encourage him.

"Time goes by--minutes inching and rocketing past. You laugh and learn and make memories together."

More time goes by—minutes inching and rocketing past. You laugh and learn and make memories together.

Sometimes she rolls her eyes at you, and you keep loving like Christ. Maybe he mumbles a half-greeting on the way to his room, and you keep trying to communicate and connect.

They leave for college, for a job, or for an adventure. It feels horrible and wonderful at the same time—because you miss them so much, and yet you’re so proud of them.

You realize, at some point during those years, just how much your own mother did for you. Maybe she failed you in many ways, or maybe she was nearly perfect. Either way, she gave you life, and probably much more along with it.

When you become a mother yourself, you realize what your mother needs from you.

This Mother’s Day, tell her that you finally understand. Tell her that you’re grateful for everything she did for you, every minute of every year. Let her know that you love her.

Maybe you’ll buy her a card, some flowers, some candy, or a special gift. Just don’t forget to give her your gratitude, your love, and your time. That’s what you want from your kids, and she feels the same way.

If your mother has passed on, take some time to remember her on Mother’s Day. Share a memory, read her favorite Bible verse, or sing her favorite song. Maybe you are blessed with a legacy of godly grandmothers whom you can honor in memory or in person.

If you’re feeling weary in well-doing as you face the challenges of motherhood yourself, find some encouraging spiritual resources to sustain your soul for the journey ahead. One day, your own child may come back to you and say, “Mom, now I understand how much you love me.”

Sign up for our Homeschool Solutions eNews to receive news about a special Mother’s Day surprise we’re planning!

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: family, gift, honor, Mother's Day, motherhood, time

Hope for a Weary Soul

January 26, 2016 by Megan

young girl standing in front of a wall with magenta hand paintI knew we were in trouble as soon as I heard the sound of my daughter’s cackling laughter. When the sound of a toilet flushing joined the laughter only a heartbeat later, I was already heading toward the stairs.

My daughter stopped laughing. She called out a worried “Mommy?” that was hardly reassuring.

I felt the crisis, quite literally, when I reached the top of the stairs. There was water on the floor. This was bad.

When I finally reached the scene, I discovered that my daughter had unrolled almost an entire roll of toilet paper and had tried to stuff it all down the toilet. Now the toilet was seriously clogged and was overflowing.

The moments that followed my discovery were not some of my best moments. I frantically called my husband, and he told me how to turn off the water. That solved the most pressing crisis. But I was still left with a mess. And a very frustrated heart.

By the time my husband got home that evening, I was in tears. I felt like a failure, not an “I-tried-a-new-recipe-that-was-a-complete-flop” failure, but a soul-crippling one. I was battle-weary, not just from dealing with three disobedient children all day, but from dealing with my own sinful self. I felt like I had utterly failed at being a mom. I was sure that I was ruining my children.

This sense of failure hung on for a while. I would feel it when I would go to church and see other moms who, from my perspective, had it all together, or when I checked my social media accounts. Clean houses. Fancy dinners. Little girls in gorgeous, hand-sewn dresses. Fun (and educational!) activities. These perfect pictures of seemingly perfect families taunted me and cultivated my own sense of personal failure.

book cover of The Battle Within: What Being a Mom Taught Me About Myself by J. Robin Wood

Then one Sunday morning, my husband gave me a copy of The Battle Within by J. Robin Wood. That book, which I started reading the very day I received it, was a balm to my battered soul. Even the forward gave me hope:

I am convinced that marriage and motherhood are extreme tests of  selflessness. I am also convinced that every woman who enters these responsibilities is unprepared for the extent of the selflessness required, and that we are doomed to failure if we try to succeed by ourselves, in our own strength, and for our own happiness.

But there is hope—an absolute rock-solid truth. God is faithful. His Word is powerful and full of comfort. And there is help—real, credible support.

We have everything we need in His Word and through His Spirit to defeat the power of our personal Supermom—our own sinful nature.1

The author of this book is very much like me. She’s a stay-at-home mom with three very young children and is trying to juggle the responsibilities of helping her husband, training her children, and ministering to the body of Christ. She’s very transparent—from the very first pages of the book you realize that she’s not perfect in any of those roles. That transparency was very comforting to me. It helped me realize that I’m not alone in my struggle.

But the author didn’t just offer me a sympathetic “I’ve been there too” pat on the back. She pointed me to the only path to victory, God’s Word. She urged me to look deep within my own soul, to confess my sin, and to renew my mind continually with Scripture.

For as long as I am in this world, I’m going to struggle against my sinful flesh. I’m going to fail. But, as Robin Wood reminds readers, I’m not alone. God truly has given me all that I need—not just to defeat sin but to encourage my heart day by day.

If you or someone you know is struggling under the weight of responsibility that motherhood brings, I would strongly recommend The Battle Within.

1 J. Robin Wood, The Battle Within: What Being a Mom Taught Me About Myself (Greenville, SC: JourneyForth, 2015), i–ii.

Filed Under: JourneyForth, Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: encouragement, faith, family, hope, motherhood, transparency

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