Are you a stressed-out, anxious, exhausted mom? Is there a recurrent pattern of “if only” in your mind? If only I could get more sleep. If only I had more time. If only I knew the right way to do this. If only I knew the right words to say. If only I had more patience. If only I could be a better mom like ____.
Why are hugs so magical? Sometimes, all we need is a hug to melt away all our stress, make us feel safe, calm the storms raging in our minds, and reassure us everything will be okay. When life gets tough, we need a warm embrace—not words, not advice, just a hug to make us feel better. Why? Hugs let us know we matter and are loved.
So, how do we know when to be silent or speak? I believe the answer is to pause. Pausing keeps us from rushing in with a reprimand and enables us to be helpful rather than hurtful. It allows us to choose our words carefully and reveal God’s truth.
When someone is in love, people say, “You are glowing!” Perhaps this is because feeling loved warms our souls and illuminates our whole being. However, this doesn’t only apply to romantic love. Knowing we are loved changes us. We perceive ourselves differently, act differently, react differently, and love differently.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This is advice we should all heed. Or should we? There was a point in my life when I thought if I just tried harder, I would stop letting God down. I knew that He forgave me when I sought forgiveness. But I was convinced that because I kept making the same mistakes again and again, I was a huge disappointment to God.
Sometimes, we all just need a little reminder. I was losing my mind and taking it out on the poor security alarm repairman when he gave me a half-smile and pointed towards me, indicating I should look down. That’s when I realized I was wearing my “Be A Nice Human” T-shirt. So, I immediately shut my mouth, burst into tears, then apologized profusely. The kind repairman handed me a Kleenex and said, “It’s OK.” I try to remember to always offer kindness because you never know what someone else is going through.
Have you ever run away from God? I have. When I became a Christian I kept hearing about how I was supposed to behave. But because of my rocky childhood, I was a survivor. My coping mechanisms were keeping busy ,being perfectionistic with myself and others, and being angry when I and others couldn’t live up to my impossible expectations. But even worse, I saw God as a judgmental parent who rejected me because I wasn’t good enough.
What do you do when your heart is breaking and you can’t understand? Yesterday, a close friend passed away. He’d been in a motorcycle accident and had massive internal bleeding and injuries. But despite the best efforts of the ICU doctors, and being surrounded by praying friends and family for four days, his body was too tired to fight any longer. When he passed I could barely breathe. I felt as if I had nothing left inside me.
After I became a Christian I was told I was reborn spiritually. And I read this verse. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”. (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV) The problem was I didn’t feel like a new creation. No matter how hard I tried, I was the same old me, making the same old mistakes. So I pursued perfection and tried to please people But this was a no win situation
Everyone makes mistakes. But overcoming them can be difficult due to guilt and a distorted view of God. Read to discover Five Steps for overcoming mistakes with God’s help.
