Give yourself permission to relax to move slower than what culture is asking of you,
To move slower than what social media tempts you to do.
Give yourself permission to breathe,
To be,
And to enjoy the little moments every day.
As mothers,
A very common narrative is to enjoy every moment,
Soak it up because it goes so fast,
But this can be damaging,
This can be guilt-inducing because it kind of instills a fear in us to soak up every second with our child and if we don't,
If we take that moment to watch a tv show or be lazy in some way or go for a walk or take some sort of time for ourselves,
Then it suggests that we're not soaking up every moment with our child.
But let me remind you,
As a woman who loves God and knows his promises,
This life extends beyond the physical and it extends into eternity with Jesus.
Don't get caught up in the here and now.
Don't allow that pressure into your heart.
I pray in Jesus name,
Lord,
That you would protect us from culture and from the narratives that surround us,
The narratives that may be wrapped in a little bow and seem to be sweet,
But they actually produce guilt and they produce fear and they keep us trapped in a mindset that conforms to this world.
But Lord,
You say that if we believe in you and we know you,
That our mind should not be conformed to the patterns of this world,
But instead our minds should be transformed and renewed by you.
So God,
We welcome you into this space.
We welcome you to transform our thoughts right now and remind us of eternity.
Help us in this moment to just feel the depth,
The breadth of eternity that these moments we have with our children are precious,
But that we don't need to worry that we're not doing it right or that we need to extend our time.
Let us cherish the moments that we do have and instead,
Maybe the narrative could be soak up these times with your child or your children because they go slow.
Maybe instead of this idea that time moves fast,
Maybe,
Just maybe,
We could embrace the feeling of a slower pace.
Maybe we could say no to the play date.
Maybe we could say no to the soccer season.
Maybe we could say no to the next activity or birthday party.
Maybe we can create a new generational pattern.
Maybe we don't need to celebrate birthdays every single year and have excessive presence and consumerism and more,
More,
More.
Maybe for a birthday this year,
We can walk out into nature and look at the bees and the birds and the trees and feel the whistling of the nature around us and just look around and enjoy life and marvel at the fact that we are living and that our child is alive.
That's something that has been on my heart a lot is just battling consumerism and I want to challenge the norm.
For my daughter's first birthday party,
I'm considering just something simple,
Something quiet,
Something with maybe just our family.
Less toys,
Less cards,
Less presents,
Less tissue paper,
More smiles,
More eye-to-eye contact,
More hugs.
In this message,
I think that there is a balance,
A balance of embracing the simple moments but allowing ourselves grace if we fall into a time or a season or a moment where we need to just shut off our brains and watch a TV show or eat lunch or whatever that activity looks like or whatever that time looks like for you to allow yourself that time with yourself,
For yourself,
And I hope that in some way this was encouraging to you today and I just want to end this time in prayer.
Lord God,
Thank you for this woman,
This mother who has selflessly been thrown into a role that has absolutely changed her life.
We just thank you for the newness that comes with this role,
For the challenges,
And for the moments that go very slow.
Thank you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
You
