Confession of a working mom

Reading: Proverbs 31

The Proverbs 31 woman…There are times when I read about her and I start feeling like Iron Man, and every bone in my body stands to say ‘yes Lord, I am in it. I am her!’ And then there are days when I ask God, ‘what were you thinking placing this in your word? Are you serious, this is the woman we should aspire to be?’…it feels impossible!

I mean, this woman is a well oiled machine. She is virtuous, she is strong and dignified – she is a force. She is priceless. She is strategic, and planned. She is financially wise. She works hard, she is not lazy. She is selfless. She is fearless….she is incredible, someone I truly aspire to be, but I confess to have days when I feel, ‘Oh Lord, this is simply unattainable, I am nothing like her.’

I have thought a lot about this woman the past couple of days as we just experienced the first day of a new school year. If you are like me, you meet this day with angst EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. Being a full time mom, full time wife, and full time employee, the school year seems to pile on the mommy guilt, magnifies stress of every day life and easily persuades our mindset to a lament that we are never going to be the proverbs 31 woman, there is simply not enough time in the day or energy in our tired bodies.

I started this day as all other first days of school. I was on it. I had a plan and worked that plan precisely! Kids were showered and clothes were laid out before bed. My alarm went off at 4:45 am and I was up – bible in hand, coffee pot on, I got myself ready, and lunch was packed before waking the kids. I even had my praise music on to get us moving. We were on it and hit the ground running. I dropped the kids off at school (smiling and happy) at the precise moment the doors opened so I could jet to work to deliver a presentation. If there were ever a day to feel like the proverbs 31 woman this was it! Wooooo I felt good, adrenaline was surging through my body, I felt like I could do anything – you know what I am talking about! I am not the only mom that experiences the triumph of a perfect morning … As I drove the two hours to deliver my presentation, my mind wandered – as it always does…what will tomorrow be like? How long can I keep this impeccable organization up, is it possible every morning this school year can be this smooth? And a moment of honesty hit and reminded me NO! They won’t all be perfect, one of my children is going to forget they have homework until moments before it is due, I will forget to pack that lunch box and scramble to get it ready before we have to run out the door. A wardrobe malfunction will cause us to scramble,and force us to get to school seconds before the school bell rings. There are going to be nights when my employed away from the home body is just going to need to rest and the laundry and dishes are not going to get done after the kids go to bed. There will be nights when our schedule is so packed that a homemade meal will not be possible, and frozen pizza is the only option. There are going to be days we don’t leave our home feeling warm and fuzzy, there will be days that involve those ‘unglued’ mom moments, and all of this is going to be ok…it doesn’t make me or any of other mom a failure…because God’s word never says that the Proverbs 31 woman never experienced stress or hard days. What we read of her, speaks to her intentionality in all she does, focusing on her family…I believe all mothers have the ability to be intentional and focus on their family…so maybe, just maybe, becoming her isn’t as far fetched as we make it out to be…

I believe part of becoming this woman lies in controlling our reactions – not freaking out! It requires discipline and staying on top of things. It requires us realizing we are not perfect, and perfection is not realistic nor is it a requirement. We must realize we are a work in progress. I believe becoming her requires an acknowledgment that none of us can be her without the help of our Lord, and giving him the ability to slowly chip away the things that hold us back, and us having a mind set that this requires steady – daily progress changing habits and an intense amount of intentionality. It requires us granting ourselves a whole lot of grace in the process, we won’t be her in just a day…

Let’s make ourselves a promise this school year. A promise to give God each day, and allow him to slowly transform us into the woman he has called us to be.

Join me today…Choose Him.