Dear Tired Mama,

These little years can be brutal. Wonderfully, amazingly, joyfully brutal. And you're in the middle of them.

Maybe people keep telling this is just a season. But from where you sit, it seems like a very long one. You're exhausted, so exhausted, from rocking sleepless babes or teething toddlers, and laying your own desires down every single day.

I'm with you.

Your kids are blessings. And when you finally go to bed at night, you think about how beautiful and funny and affectionate and creative and busy they are. You remember the beauty of the little souls in your care. And then they rouse you from your sleep and you stumble around the house and through the next day and you try to serve them and you try to remember, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated. It’s easy to feel like the work you do amounts to nothing.

But Mama, let me tell you: what you are doing is important. Your children are eternal souls. God has entrusted them to you. Your work may seem small and insignificant. And in the world’s calculus, the wiping of noses and bottoms, the soothing of frightened wee ones, the speaking of truth into their young hearts, might be. But remember: though your work may be small in breadth, it is deep, and it is not insignificant. Your kids need you, and nothing is more significant to them than you loving them, teaching them, and showing them grace.

And there is grace for you too. The toil of mothering will pull the sin latent in your heart to the surface. It’s an ugly, painful process. Trust that God knew about that sin before it spilled out into your interactions with your kids and husband. Trust that if you are His child, the cross of Christ is enough to cover your failings as a mother. Trust that He loves you and He is allowing these weary days to bring that sin to the surface so that, over a lifetime, he can finish the work he started in you.

And He is at work. Even when your screaming infant won’t let you attend a church service. Even when quiet times are hard to come by. Even when you had no idea you could be so tired and still be alive. He’s with you, and He’s for you. He will use this difficulty to draw you to himself. He is relentless, and he is working it for your ultimate good.

So don't give up. Ask for strength when yours is spent. He has promised a harvest for your sowing if you endure. And don’t waste the difficulty. Let it have its full effect. Let it push you into his presence. Let it drive you to the throne of grace, where you will find help in your time of need. Let it sanctify you, and draw you into His grace.

Don’t give up, Mama. Don’t give up.

Love,

Another Tired Mama