7 I Will's For Today's Busy Mom

You know, I find myself feeling so deeply for today’s mother. Her challenges in managing a 21st century household are unprecedented. Insistent demands seem to multiply like rabbits, and activities squeeze their way into already overflowing calendars. While she ramps up to coordinate the demands of the day, her own soul starves for nourishment and rest.

I believe that mothers possess the world’s best, most influential profession. However, rarely do we benefit from a 360-job review to objectively access our strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and flaws. Too often, our major assessment tool tends to be introspection, and that never works, does it?

So, Mom, to replenish and move forward with confidence and freedom, I invite you to pour a cup of coffee, find a quiet corner, and hold a conversation with yourself to reflect on Seven I Will’s of Grace.

Seven I Will’s of Grace for Today’s Busy Mom

1. I will move forward with confidence and freedom in my own shoes, and quit comparing myself to other mothers.

2. I will resist thinking so much about my children’s future that I miss their present.

3. I will refuse to criticize my children’s dad.

4. I will release my unrealistic goal of trying to be a perfect mother, and focus on being a loving mother.

5. I will bring God more and more into every equation, situation, decision, and crisis.

6. I will accept God’s forgiveness for my past mistakes and move forward with His Holy Spirit’s equipping.

7. I will celebrate—like never—before the awesome privilege of being a woman of influence as I invest in the lives of the next generation.

Happy, Blessed Grace-Filled Mother’s Day!

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

From the list above, which I Will draws your heart like a magnet to the truth it contains?

What do you think is God’s view of you as a mother?

How does your answer match with the words of Jeremiah 31:3?

I have love you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

and

Isaiah 40:11c?

… He gently leads those who are with young.

On this Mother’s Day, will you give yourself the blessed gift of grace? (He does.)

Hey Mom! A Hack, A Book, A Poem

When a resource comes from my daughter, I automatically give it a 5 star review. She is godly, intelligent, wise, and resourceful; I value both her wisdom and her research. From purchasing a vacuum to investigating appropriate plants for the subdivision entrance, she can be trusted. So, with joy—and inclusive of her comments—I share my latest favorites (A Hack, A Book, A Poem) from Hey Mom!

A Hack

Comment: Hey Mom! You are not going to believe this method. It will save all kinds of frustration.

Ingenious Duvet Cover Trick:

A Book

Comment: Hey Mom! I sent you a link to the biography I’ve been listening to on the life of Queen Mary. It’s really good, and the author has all these very British anecdotes, which I think you would get a kick out of. For instance, she talks about how the queen always had an umbrella with her, and she would inconspicuously poke the king if he got too long-winded in his speeches!

Anyway, it just made me think of the wife of a leader, and plus, you like the British. Also, it spans a fascinating time in history—through both the World Wars.

I think my take-away, though, is that while she was a great queen (she was loved) and an excellent wife, she had her drawbacks as a mother. Tell me what you think.

Matriarch, Queen Mary and the House of Windsor

By Anne Edwards, read by Corrie James

A Poem

Comment: Hey Mom! One of the ladies in my Bible study read this prayer to us the other day; I thought you would like it. She was a hospice nurse for many years, so the last line, God be at mine end, was particularly meaningful to her. She said that people die very differently from one another. And, she told us that you can tell a difference with those who are looking forward to seeing their Savior.

God be in my head,

and in my understanding;

God be in my eyes,

and in my looking;

God be in my mouth,

and in my speaking;

God be in my heart,

and in my thinking;

God be in mine end,

and at my departing.

-The Book of Hours, 1514

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds …” (Hebrews 10:24).

Which younger person has God placed in your life to provide you with resourceful information?

How does He use this relationship to infuse you with encouragement and inspiration?

If you are the younger person in the relationship, are you patient when one from another generation asks for your much-needed assistance and input?

Alleviate the Agony of Waiting

Sitting at my kitchen counter, I ate my warm oatmeal and pondered the topic: waiting. My friend’s dilemma related to her professional life, and mine touched my personal life. As we encouraged each other back and forth with our text messages, I realized that she and I are not alone.

Waiting for something or someone seems to perpetually command a placeholder in our lives.

Waiting for:

a medical school slot to open up

a business permit to be acquired

a boss to get back to us

the insurance company to approve

an interview to be granted

a biopsy report to come in

an internship to turn up

a spouse to change

a prodigal to come home

one’s finances to improve

a friendship to be reconciled

a healing to take place

an email to be answered

If Waiting is a Biblical theme—and it is—we ask, “Why is waiting so hard?” Perhaps, as one of life’s greatest challenges, waiting reminds us that we are not in control.

So while sitting in Life’s Waiting Room, allow these three thoughts to alleviate—lessen—the agony.

Perspective

The Lord of all time is also the Lord of timing.

-Ronnie Stevens

While we are waiting, God is working.

-Alistair Begg

Presence

God + nothing is more than enough.

(God’s very Presence offers fullness of joy—Psalm 16:11—with or without what it is that I am waiting on or for. So, while we wait, we still get God!)

-Larry Thompson

Provision

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

-2 Peter 1:3 Berean Study Bible

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

How well do you wait?

Why do you think waiting is so challenging?

What are you waiting on right now?

What thought of encouragement do you have to offer to a fellow-waiting pilgrim?

Note: Please keep in mind, the definition of alleviate is to lessen, as opposed to eliminate. Only God can eliminate the agony of waiting.