Every mom has felt it…from the day our children are born we have dealt with being exhausted. I remember the day “Boo” was born, he cried the entire night and I was determined to have him stay with me and not go to the nursery. This is the perfect example of an exhausted mom from day one.
Exhaustion doesn’t always mean a lack of sleep though, it can be that our days are so full that there is simply no margin, no time to rest, relax or enjoy the day which we’ve been gifted.
No matter the cause of our exhaustion, it comes with overwhelming emotions which can change like the wind. It is during our times of exhaustion that we must take extra care with what we speak, think and how we act.
Sometimes our exhaustion comes from too many expectations we place on ourselves. Things like our house has to be completely clean every day, our family needs hot meals every day three times a day, to truly be serving the Lord we must not say no to any ministry opportunities we’re offered or that we hear about…on and on these exhausting expectations go. While none of these things are bad in and of themselves, we must remember all of the other things we have that we must do, things that are part of our calling as wives and mothers. All too often there are just too many things on our places and no matter how many times we try and stack them a different way they just don’t fit.
There have been many times in my life that I’ve lived with and pushed through being exhausted. I struggle greatly with saying no and do my own stacking the plates dance. I’m learning that there is only one of me though and I have limitations. The limitations that I have were placed in my by design. God didn’t plan for me to do it all, He had a unique plan for my life. A plan that I’m striving to focus on by acknowledging that I can’t do it all, that there are things I’m not good at (nor do I have time to figure them out) and I’m learning to say no to wonderful opportunities that I just can’t tackle right now.
Living as an exhausted wife and mom is not good for our families. We all must sit down and make a list of things we KNOW MUST be a PRIORITY. Having our husbands take a peek at our list and even asking them what a few things are that they would like us to focus on is a great idea. It is especially beneficial for those of us who have trouble saying no and have a habit of tying to do too much.
Being exhausted doesn’t have to be our way of life. It’s often because of choices we make. Other times it is merely the season of life we are in. No matter where you find yourself in life, if you struggle with exhaustion, take the time to look HARD at all you *think* you *need* to do and find a few things that you can let go of….I promise that the laundry, dishes and trash will be waiting after your nap. A lot of things can wait, we just have to let them.
Enjoy life. Say goodbye to exhaustion.
