This post goes out to all the moms today. I think it’s so ironic that I wrote last week’s post, Hope for the Uphill Days, on Saturday morning. Later that night, we checked into the emergency room with our twelve-year-old, Maggie. Maggie had been having stomach pains all day and throwing up. Eventually, the pain transferred to her right side; and we knew we had to take her in. We started all the prep work at the hospital for surgery to take her appendix out. It was a long night followed by early morning prep for surgery.

Sunday Surgery

Sunday is not a super great day to have surgery, especially when your husband’s a pastor and you run the kids program and play the piano for worship time. Add to that, Sunday morning was a big day as we had two baptisms that day and were planning on a good amount of visitors. I watched my phone all morning and waited for a time for surgery. Eventually, I realized, there was no way I was going to make it for service. Matt would have to fly solo for this one.

Sunday morning in a hospital is a weird time. The hospital still functions normally, but it’s quiet. I was the only one in the huge waiting room as I waited for Maggie’s surgery to take place. I didn’t even think to bring my morning time stuff, and I didn’t have a plug for my charge cord. I’d forgotten to bring that. So there was literally nothing I could do except pray, worry, and pray some more. When I got too sleepy, I would stand up and walk around. I was very aware of the fact that church was taking place while I was in the waiting room. People were showing up at church, drinking coffee, celebrating, cheering for the baptisms, and worshiping together…all while I sat in silence at the hospital in an empty waiting room.

Being a Mom Isn’t Glamorous

I’ve thought about those hours in the hospital a lot this week. They brought back so many memories of another trip to the hospital–a trip that ended with five days in the ICU and a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis for our then five-year-old, Macey. This time, while everyone else was celebrating at church, I was holding my daughter’s hand, helping her out of bed to go to the bathroom, helping her shower, praying with her, discussing her fears, and holding her hair back when she threw up. It’s not always glamorous being a mom. We moms know that there are times we serve and love and take care of our kids that no one knows about.

Maggie won’t really remember a whole lot of details about this weekend in the hospital as she was out of it a lot. But do you know what she would remember for sure? She would remember if I chose to leave her at the hospital in someone else’s care, so I could be at church. She probably won’t remember all the times she threw up, or how she was in so much pain, or even how long it took for the anesthesia to completely wear off. But she’ll remember that her mama was there at her bedside every step of the way.

Being a mom means sitting beside your child in the hospital bed. It also means being woken out of a dead sleep at two in the morning because your son tells you something is beeping in his room. Yep, Matt and I dug through the trash can in Malachi’s room at two in the morning the other night because he couldn’t sleep and couldn’t find what was beeping. I was pretty sure he was losing it and told him that myself. Come to find out, there actually was something beeping. It was an old omnipod that didn’t get disconnected; those are the worst. They beep for hours! So, I was wrong; he was right.

The Weary Mom

Sometimes, we get tired as moms. I’m in the teen mom stage of life, but maybe you have a newborn, or you have toddlers. Maybe you have grown children that need you constantly, or you have grandchildren you babysit. Whatever it is, our jobs as moms are never done. Most of the time, nobody will see. Nobody will know all the hours you stayed up the first six month’s of your baby’s life. Your precious baby won’t even know. But God sees; He knows. He’s pleased when we take care of the ones He’s entrusted to us. After all, He gave us the example. He’s our shepherd, and He carries us.

He protects his flock like a shepherd;
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.

Isaiah 40:11 CSB

Let Jesus Carry You

So if you’re tired today, Mama, I hear you. I get it; we all do. Being a mom is exhausting. Whether you’re nursing, caring for a sick child, potty training, training, correcting, sitting at a hospital bed, or even looking for something beeping in the middle of the night, motherhood is not for the weak. Jesus’ answer is the same to moms as it is to all believers. Come to Him; bring your weariness and your burdens to Him. Lay them at His feet, and let Him carry those burdens. Let Him carry your exhaustion.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28 NLT

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

I Peter 5:7 NLT

The Job That’s Never Done

Mamas, our job is never done, and that’s a good thing. We don’t want this particular job to ever end. So wherever you find yourself in these days of mothering, be all there. Love on those God’s entrusted to you. Give those adult kids a text or a call, remind your teen that they’re loved and worthy, watch those elementary kids perform that trick another hundred times, put a bandaid on that toddler again, and kiss that baby. The day is going to come when we pack them up and send them off to college, and they take our heart with them. There may be a day they don’t live close by, and we will wish to see them more often. Savor these days God’s given us, and choose to enjoy one of God’s greatest blessings–being a mom.