Love? Really mummy?

Ok. So we tried putting it off for as long as we could. We discussed it, prayed about it, and silently hoped that that day was a long way off. But it finally came.

Pouting lips. A defiant stare. Stubborn little legs that stood their ground demanding their way NOW!  


"I have a visitor, what will she think of me?"
"I don't want to do this without her daddy here." 
But if I did nothing, I knew that I would hurt her more.


I looked at her. She glared back, with a small victorious smile starting to form.


A gentle but swift spank on her bum. Silence... then tears. 


Wide tear-brimmed eyes asking why. A mother's silent prayer to heaven wondering if she did the right thing.


An answer in the form of  chubby hands around her. Maybe not immediately, but all the same a welcome relief, whatever the hour.

"... “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” ...Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!...No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

                                      Hebrews 12:5-6,9,11

Hope for the weary mum

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
                                    Isaiah 40:31

Meals to be cooked. Noses and bums to be wiped. Dishes to be cleared. Socks to be paired... and in the middle of this muddle, is a family to be loved.

I'm not a multi-tasking mum. Period. I know that there's a generalization that women are great multi-taskers, but that gene seems to be missing from my DNA. I try to keep my house running, and still have some mummy time. At times, this is possible, but more often than not, the day ends with half of my 'To-Do' list still pending and a back ache that feels chronic.

There lies my problem: "I try." I'm beginning to realize that I can't do this on my own strength. I can't be a loving wife and mother; a budding writer and astute business woman; a godly woman. To be all this things and more, I need God. I need to learn to find my strength in Him, and when weary, I need to find my rest in Him. Like the Psalmist, may I say

"You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh my life. You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths."


Psalm 23:2-3 CEV