The Tired Days

There are many days, and sometimes weeks, as a mom when the only comprehensible feeling I have is tired. Worn out. I find myself muddling through these days hazily, like walking through an endless fog, and nothing seems to get done. I clean all day, yet my house remains messy. I plan meals, yet have no idea what to cook at dinnertime. I revive projects, yet finish nothing in a weeks’ time.

It is only at the end of these days that I start to realize two things: one, I’ve not been spending time with God. I haven’t been replenishing my soul with prayer and reading, with the truths I so desperately need (and sometimes a little slap on the hand for selfish behavior). I’ve been ignoring my Bible, I’ve been shooting off random prayers only when I really want a kid to sleep, or really want to survive a day.

Two, I haven’t been taking time for myself. I haven’t been refilling my cup with thoughtful me-time. I haven’t been enforcing quiet time, and doing the little things I enjoy.

Because of this, often my body is running on empty, both spiritually and mentally, and it reflects on my home life and children. My kids get restless. The TV and cartoons never turn off. Meals are scattered. Constant attention is needed everywhere.

Almost daily, I need a reminder. Take time for God; take time for myself.

As mothers, I think we often feel as though taking time for ourselves is too indulgent, perhaps too selfish. We can’t do things for us, we have to do things for our children. We can’t do things for us, because someone always needs us. But, how can we fill them up, if we are constantly empty?

I know it is a struggle to find that time; I know it all too well. The days on end when I think maybe I’ll get a shower that day, but I’m more concerned about what my kids might get into while I’m doing the most basic of things for myself… the weeks when I can’t remember the last time I got dressed and did my makeup just because I wanted to feel pretty… the months when I haven’t gone out with a friend – just me and that friend.Lately, my Bible has been sitting in a drawer unopened. It’s only today that I’ve realized this, and know I need to make a change.

Don’t forget, as Mother’s Day draws closer, that you do not need one special day to take time for yourself and God. Whether it’s five minutes or an hour, every day should have time for both. Time for letting go of worry, for refocusing our thoughts on what really matters, for remembering who we are apart from the demands of home life and motherhood. Time for praise, for being creative, for exercising the talents God has given us in life. Time for refreshing our souls, and replenishing our minds with what is good, and lovely, and right.

Don’t forget to take time for this.

-Kristina

^“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Phillipians 4:8