These past few days have been hard at our house…
In addition to being a pastor’s wife, I am also a busy mom of four young children. As we inch toward the end of summer vacation, we’ve reached that point where everyone is simply… tired.
The kids are tired.
The parents are tired.
The relief we felt in May from the school year grind has been replaced with summer exhaustion. The excitement of sleeping in, pool days, vacations, and endless snacks has worn off. Our house feels louder and more cramped. Everyone’s patience feels a little shorter. And somehow, no amount of snacks, outdoor time, playtime, or screen time seems to make anyone happy for very long.
Maybe your house feels the same today…
One of the greatest challenges of motherhood isn’t simply keeping our children fed, clothed, and entertained. It’s shepherding their little hearts.
As parents, we spend countless hours teaching our children gratitude for what they have and contentment for when they don’t. We remind them to be kind to their siblings, to speak gently, to share, to obey, and to trust the Lord. Sometimes those lessons seem to stick. While on other days, it feels like we’re repeating the same conversations over and over again. This is especially true given that we are all tired at the end of a busy summer.
Since we have multiple children, each with different personalities, needs, and emotions, the opportunities for conflict seem endless. One child feels left out. Another wants something someone else has. Someone is frustrated. Someone is crying. Someone is hungry… again…
Trying to teach our children to have thankful hearts and gratitude for their endless summertime fun feels like an insurmountable hurdle.
If that’s where you are today, I want you to know that you’re not alone. The Lord is with you as you parent and shepherd little hearts.
Every correction given in love. Every bedtime prayer. Every reminder to say “thank you.” Every conversation about Jesus. Every hug after discipline. Every meal prepared. Every tear wiped away. None of it is wasted.
The world may never applaud the quiet faithfulness of raising children, but Scripture reminds us that this work is Kingdom work. God is using the ordinary, repetitive moments of parenting to shape not only our children but also sanctify our own hearts.
Dear sister, if you find yourself in a season of weariness, don’t lose heart. You don’t have to be the perfect mother to faithfully point your children to a perfect Savior.
When your patience is thin, pray for strength. When your words fail, pray for wisdom. When you feel like nothing you’re doing is making a difference, remember that God often works through thousands of unseen, ordinary acts of faithfulness. Today, instead of measuring your success by your children’s behavior or the cleanliness of your home, measure it by your faithfulness to keep showing up, loving well, and pointing your family to Christ.
As our family and yours enters the final months of summer and the weariness sets in, I encourage you to mediate on the truths of Scripture. Here are some Bible verses that I find encouraging in this season.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6–7
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 1 Timothy 6:6–8
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10
Take heart, dear sister. The Lord sees every unseen act of faithfulness, and He is with you in the beautiful, exhausting work of raising your children for His glory. I hope you are able to find some time to rest, relax and enjoy the final days of summer with your beloved children.
Many blessings,
Rose
