Is there such a manual or book that teaches us how to be a perfect mom? Had
Google been available when my kids were small, I might have searched for that
subject—how to be a perfect Mom.
But no video, article or book could ever prepare us for the endless, “Mom…I
want.” Or “Mom, I’m not eatin’ that, looks yucky.” Or “Mom, he’s hitting me.” Or
even the numerous “Mom, I can’t’ find my shoes.”
Those are common calls from kids everywhere. But with no eyesight at the time
mythree3 boys were 3-, 5-, and 7-years-old, they became challenges for which I
wasn’t prepared.
Trying to be creative in caring with them with no eyesight, God winked at me one
day when He reminded me to use my other senses.
I caught the distinct smell of chocolate as my 5-year-old Jeff entered the
kitchen. I held out my hand. “Hand me all those M&M’s you have in that pocket,
young man” I said. “It’s almost dinner time.”
He placed two round pieces in my palm. “Here, that’s all of them,” he said.
“Nope, I said all of them.”
He didn’t count on my sense of smell, nor on my mom’s intuition that told me he
wasn’t handing over all of the multi-colored pieces to me.
But if I should punish him for holding back, I deserved the same rebuke.
I held back, too. Moments when my days as a Mom went from hectic to crazy. My
patience went from abundant to absent. Moments when I resembled the wash rag
after all my energy was drained. And moments when tragedy invaded our lives. In
all those circumstances I held back.
In prayer I thought I had given my burdens to the Lord. Maybe I did. But not all
of them. I held onto some: I hung on to worries about my inadequacies as a Mom.
I clung to the fears that I wasn’t meeting the “perfect-Mom” standards”. I kept
the insecurities each time things would fall apart.
God might have held His hand out, too. He wanted all of them. And He knew when I
kept some tucked in the pocket of my heart.
Peace and calmness reigned when I recognized I’d never be perfect, only
perfectly sure to accept His invitation: “Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you.” (Psalm 55:22) “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will
sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” (1 Peter 5:7.)
Father, decades have gone by since my days as a young mom, but decades follow
for me to learn that you want all my burdens, all my heartache, all my
insecurities and my fears. I’ll celebrate Mother’s Day by not holding any
negative, destructive emotions. Thank you for the light load you’ve given me and
for setting me free from what weighed me down before. In Jesus’s name, amen.
What burdens weight heavy on your heart?
What are you holding on to?
What do you think you need to be a perfect Mom?
Janet Eckles Blindness tried to darken Janet’s life. And tragedy tried to defeat her through the murder of her youngest son followed by the acquittal of the man responsible. But instead of defeat, Janet found peace. And God’s grace brought sweet triumph. So Janet gathered insights, claimed God’s promises, and found practical steps to bring back joy. She put them all together for you in her latest book, Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta.
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