One Day at a Time
By Contributing Writer, Brandy Ferguson
In some ways, having many children now seems easier than when we had only two or three. I imagine that it could be because the older children are able to help some. Or it could be due to the fact that I’m more relaxed about some things, or that I have a bit more knowledge than I used to have in those early days of parenting.
Maybe it seems easier some days with eight than it did with two because I’ve learned a few “tricks of the trade”, learned what works and what doesn’t with different kids, learned how to menu plan and to cook nutritious meals, all things which reduce stress and make things run more efficiently in the home.
And maybe, just maybe, it seems easier sometimes because I now know how fleeting this season really is.
But admittedly, there are still very hard days no matter how experienced a mom is. Days, especially after the birth of a new baby, in which she finds herself overwhelmed with all of her responsibilities.
Between cooking and cleaning, nursing the baby and nursing the latest bike injury, changing the diapers and checking the homework, it can all seem too much, too fast!
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If left unchecked, our emotions can soon convince us that we’re inadequate for the task before us. And we find ourselves asking the question, “how am I supposed to do all of this, God?“ And once our perspective is off course, worry can quickly paralyze us.
Fortunately, we have a loving, Heavenly Father who hears our prayers, and in fact, knows what we need before we even ask. And how wonderful it is for us that if we just stop and listen, we can hear Him answer,
Matthew- 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Be encouraged, mothers veteran and new. God only asks for you to focus on today. It’s not our responsibility to worry about things that He is in control over.
Enjoy today for what it is and simply live life one day at a time.
This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
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Tags: motherhood
Coming from a mom who laughed through her tears this morning as I joked with my husband, asking if he would mind taking a child or two to work with him today, thank you. This post, all the links…so what I needed. Thank you.
Just yesterday, a friend of mine and I were discussing this very thing of life getting overwhelming and asking”why, God?”. She was telling me that two weeks after she had her first baby her husband left for a month on an overseas job. They had just finished the adoption process for a sibling group of 5 and had adopted 3 others a few years earlier. So she has 9 children the oldest of which was 9 at the time. The Lord provided meals for her through his people for several weeks. Her comment was “just when I was feeling like I could probably handle meals on my own the meals coming in dried up.”. The Lord gave her just exactly what she needed. He always does. We just sometimes don’t want what we need- complete trust in Him and not relying on our own self-sufficiency.
This reminds me of the poem “Do the Next Thing” It has often blessed me. Link below.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/02/26/do-next-thing/
This reminds me of a sweet poem that has often comforted me: “Do the Next Thing”:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/02/26/do-next-thing/