More Grace, Less Judgement...

Last week I had a huge To-Do List in order to get my house ready for my 4 year-old's birthday party. Of course every thing on the list probably took 2-3 times longer than it should of because I haven't deep cleaned my house in about 7 months. Each day I would put on my earphones and listen to music as I got one task done after another. Something I relearned about myself is that I REALLY like music and it motivates me to keep on task. Well while my playlist was on shuffle one song came on that I haven't heard in awhile and I stopped what I was doing and just listened to the lyrics. During that song I really felt the Lord speaking to me and I knew another post was in my near future. I was hoping to get it done before Mother's Day but as you can see by the date that didn't happen. But better late than never, right!?!

The song that stopped my in my tracks was One Heartbeat At A Time by Steven Curtis Chapman

You're up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don't know
Or maybe you've forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every "I know you can do it"
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They're just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river

And you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
How you're changing the world
You're changing the world

I felt like these verses were written about my life and my take on motherhood especially these past few months. Up all night, running all day, little things seem to go unnoticed, wondering if anything worth doing got done. But then listening to the chorus it reminds me why I chose to be a mother and why I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world.

Motherhood is a lot of work especially since God has created every little child so different. I have four children and each child is very much their own person and they all require something different from me. They also learn differently and take discipline differently as well. Just recently have I become more aware of what make my child unique and how I can help them became the man and women God has created them to be. Every day I feel like I learn something new about at least one of my children.

I know that I don't have it all together and I am NOT the perfect mom AND I have made mistakes with my kids, but I also feel that parenting doesn't fit into a box or a book because each child is created differently. What works for one child, might not work for another. Parenting is not easy, it is a lot of INTENTIONAL work.

Since each of our children are different that makes us moms different too. What works for one mom may not work for another. The Lord has really been speaking to me about judging less and giving more grace when I see other moms parenting differently than me. When I see a mom with her kids in a store, at church or at a park for the most part I am only seeing a little window into their world. I don't know the whole story so where is it my place to judge and tell them they a wrong. I know that I parent or react differently if I haven't had enough food or enough sleep or a bit of time to myself. I am human which means I have good days and bad days. Some days I feel like I have great "mom days" and then there are other days that I feel are "failing mom days". But on the days that are a struggle of me I am so thankful for God's grace and forgiveness. Also for the grace and forgiveness of my kids. Yes, I have gone to my kids and have asked for their forgiveness when I have had a bad day or have not reacted the way I should of to something.

Just yesterday I was at Target with all 4 of my kids; I was trying to look and price something out and my kids were getting restless. I had told them 3-4 times to stop touching things, well I was starting to get frustrated with them because they seem to have the urge to touch everything they saw. I knew my frustration was starting to show as I tried to stay calm and finish up my list as quick as possible. Well when we turned the corner to go down another aisle a mom stopped me (who had one younger boy with her) and said she was very impressive with me and how my kids were behaving. That just made my day. I know that I have gone in stores and gotten the "I can't believe she can't control her kids" stares but today was different I had received encouragement instead of judgment. That just changed my whole mood around. I felt blessed! The Lord again reminded me...More Grace, Less Judgement.

So to all those Moms out there who are doing their best, be encouraged that you are changing the world one heartbeat at a time. Even though life is hard right now, YOU are doing an amazing job!!!  And always remember you are the BEST MOM for your kids.