Moms, have you ever had those weeks when motherhood feels like the hardest job in the world?
Kids are sick. They fight all day. No one is listening, no one is sharing. No one is sleeping.
For the first 10 days after we found out about Baby #4, I was miserable with morning sickness all day and exhaustion....throw in food aversions and it was in and of itself a recipe for disaster.
But then, the devil knew my prayer for peace was HIGH and FREQUENT because he was set out to steal that peace, to steal that joy from us.
The first 10-12 days after we found out, every night all 3 kids were up through the night, we probably had no more than 2 hour increments of sleep, Hayden was getting up to nurse every 2-3 hours --- but I was barely eating and drinking anything so I wasn't providing her GOOD QUALITY milk like she was used too, so she was super upset, which in turn made me upset and feel guilty that her needs were suffering because of this baby. I was short with patience with the twins. They missed play dates and fun times because I was so miserable.
When Hayden napped; I napped.
I was exhausted. My business was put WAY on the back burner (and that's super hard when you can't tell anyone why!) and I was just OVERWHELMED by all the chaos --- how was another baby going to fit in?
While I was praying for peace....crazy was coming in....I had a choice: To give into the crazy with a bad attitude or I could realize what was going on and fight back.
I fought back. I dove into an amazing devotion called Overwhelmed By My Blessings: Encouragement for Moms which provided me with daily insight on motherhood and the beautiful chaos it brings as well as verses to help me trust that God knew what was happening.
I read books about motherhood and how Jesus knows what's it's like to not sleep, be needed all the time, be everything to everyone, the book Real Moms...Real Jesus: Meet the Friend Who Understands help bring me through that season.
Soon...the twins started to sleep. I started to feel better because I was getting more sleep. Hayden and I started weaning and she started eating more solids.
I pressed into Him for peace and the devil had no choice but to take his crap elsewhere.
When you turn your problems into prayer, God promises peace....for all things big or small. Something small like no sleep, toddlers who don't listen or a baby who needs comfort...aren't small things to God, they're big things because they matter to us.
I am thankful four years ago I realized the benefit of reading books that help you grow in life.I am thankful I have learned that when things get hard, I don't run away, but I lean in, pray, ask for help and trust God to show up in the big and small things. <3