We’ve brought a song called Here Again by Elevation Worship in our Services recently and it reminded me of something I wrote a couple of years ago about being ‘Mum Enough’. I shared what I wrote on Sunday and a few people have asked I share it wider - thanks for your encouragement.
The song (Here Again) is all about declaring just that...I’m not enough unless God You come - there are moments in my life....when it feels like God is far away, or I need reminding that God is with me and won’t forsake me...so when I call on Him, He will answer, He will meet me here again! No matter who you are, and whatever season you find yourself in, know today that right ‘here in the middle, is the place where God promises to be’.
Mum Enough…
Sometimes, just sometimes, I really believe I am! I believe that I am mum enough for my children…and mum enough for me to feel good about it and maybe even proud of myself…
Then there are those moments, those car journeys, evenings, dinner-time tantrums, crazy mornings, where it all goes wrong and the current reality of never being enough shouts so much louder… "I'm a rubbish mum and to be honest I can't be all I need to be. Why did I think I could, I don't do 'this' particularly well and I'm always shouting...do my kids even know my 'nice voice'?" and if I feel I am being 'enough' I can't seem to maintain it for very long…
Before I was a mum, I intently watched other mums. I watched with interest and intrigue; what they did that I liked, what they did that I didn't!
I promised myself I would do this and would do that, that I wouldn't use this, never say that. I saw the examples of what I wanted to become and took note of the sort of the shoes I didn't want to step into...
But that's just it...when you actually become a mum you see that in the face of it, we're all very similar - we thought we'd be a certain type of mum but we've been unable to live up to our own expectations! Motherhood has so many highs, so many joys and rewards but with it also come the tears, the struggles, the frustrations...what I've learned though and am still journeying, is that on my own...I will never be enough...
For me everything comes down to trusting God…trusting in who He’s made me to be and to see myself as He sees me – not just as mum; I'm His child, a follower of Jesus Christ – and all my confidence is in Him alone!
If we don’t know who we are in God we'll constantly make comparisons with other mums or other women. But if we can acknowledge that 'mum' on our own means we'll never be enough, with God, who's infinitely enough, we can truly, actually, be MUM ENOUGH! God is able to fill the areas where we feel weak and inadequate - if we're open to His Holy Spirit He'll show us how to be that awesome mum for our kids in every season of motherhood.