March On, Mama!

Feeling Overwhelmed?

I have spent much of my “career” as a mom feeling overwhelmed. When Connor was a newborn, the thought taking him to the store without another adult to help me seemed incredibly daunting. What if he screamed? What if his carrier didn’t fit in the cart? And of course, where would I feed him if he got hungry? Now that I have two little Cs, I think, “Why did I think raising one child was such a big deal? Juggling two kids, now that’s tough.” {I’m totally not saying that taking care of one baby is a breeze. I think it’s like giving birth…once you are removed from it for a little while, you forget how tough it really was. ;)} And I’m sure you moms of 3+ kids are sitting there thinking, “Oh, honey, two kids is nothing. Try dealing with my brood for a day.”

At the tail end of a particularly overwhelming week, I sat down to look at a lesson that I was going to teach to a group of four and five-year-olds. It was the Veggie Tales version of the Gideon story found in Judges 6 and 7. If you’re a little hazy when it comes to your Old Testament Bible stories {as I was}, here’s a quick synopsis:

God sends an angel to Gideon to tell him to raise up an army to fight the big, bad Midianites. Gideon, of course, gives 1001 excuses as to why he can’t possibly complete the task—“My clan is the weakest. I am the least in my father’s house,” etc., etc., etc. But God promised to be with him and provide everything Gideon needed to complete the task He had called him to. So Gideon gathers an army, but God says, “Your army is too big.” Twice He has Gideon scale down his army until he is left with only 300 men {armed with trumpets and torches, no less}. Gideon gives his men the instructions he has received from God, they follow through, and of course God provides and Gideon’s tiny army is able to defeat the much larger band of Midianites.

Talk about overwhelming! Taking two kids to Wal-mart seemed like a piece of cake after reading this story! But I could totally relate to Gideon. As overwhelmed as I feel, as many excuses as I can come up with, God called me to mother my two Cs—not anyone else—me. And He promises to provide all of the tools I need to complete the task His way.

There are days where I feel like He is taking away most of my army and leaving me with almost nothing, but those are the days where I have no choice but to completely trust Him. The more I relinquish control {unheard of for a type-A personality like myself ;)} and let God be the Master of my life and my household, the less time I will spend feeling overwhelmed. The more rooted I am in God’s Word and His promises, the more He’ll show me how to raise the Cs in a way that’s pleasing to Him.

I don’t always know what God has in mind when He calls me to a task, but I do know this: God is always good. He always has a purpose that is greater than my own, and he is always, always faithful. So take up your torch and your trumpet and march on, mama. God will be guiding you every step of the way.

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16 Comments

  1. Love this! I needed the reminder 🙂

    1. abbylawson says:

      Thanks, Bek! You made my day! 🙂

      ~Abby =)

  2. My dear young friend. You have turned out to be an amazing young women in Christ and I love you so much. Thanks for shraing your life with us. Michele

    1. abbylawson says:

      Thank you, Michele! You are so sweet. <3

      ~Abby =)

  3. Kelly @ View Along the Way says:

    Ohhh my goodness. I can’t even tell you how much this post just spoke to me. This line especially: “God called me to mother my two C’s—not anyone else—me. And He promises to provide all of the tools I need to complete the task His way.” Um, wow. I spend a lot of time thinking what a bummer it is for my kids that they got me as a mom – typical mom guilt – but to think about it as God calling me and not anyone else for this task… well that just blessed my face off. Thank you so much!!

    1. abbylawson says:

      Thank you, Kelly! You have no idea how much your encouragement means to ME. I really appreciate you stopping by the blog. And the fact that you’re even experiencing the mom guilt means that you are a wonderful mom who wants to be the very best for her kiddos, and that will bless them so much! Thanks again for taking the time to pop over here!

      ~Abby =)

  4. Kelly @ View Along the Way says:

    PS: just shared this on my blog facebook page. It was too good to keep to myself. 🙂

    1. abbylawson says:

      Wow…I’m so flattered! Thank you so much!

      ~Abby =)

  5. I rarely read blogs or advice/opinions simply because there is to much out there and it can become time consuming. I had a friend read a Facebook post of me feeling overwhelmed and sent me this blog. I wanted to thank you for posting it as I recently had twin boys and have tried to tell myself that ” God will never give me more than I can handle”. I never looked at it as being “chosen” from God to carry and raise two twin boys ( and other 2 yr old boy) so once again thank you for the encouraging words.

    1. abbylawson says:

      Michelle, you are my hero! What I really wish is that I could bring over a couple meals and help you around the house, but I’m really glad I could at least encourage you this way. Praying for you as you navigate life with three boys under two. They are so blessed to have you as their mommy!!

      ~Abby =)

  6. Stan Alderson says:

    God is and will always be faithful… 🙂 God bless you Abby!

    1. abbylawson says:

      Thank you so much, Stan! Have a wonderful weekend!

      ~Abby =)

  7. This is totally ment for me (and 100’s+). I feel so over whelmed sometimes I pray for bedtime to be able to breath. And then I feel guilty as that is moments of time I will never get back. It is hard to work fulltime, so all the activities we do and school work and church and just LIFE!!! Thank you. Your blog (I just found by the way) has already lifted me up beyond measurement!! Thank you.

    1. abbylawson says:

      I feel like we are so similar, Tammy! Why is it that as moms we spend so much time feeling guilty?! I can assure you, though, that the fact that you work so hard to balance so much and care about doing it well means you are doing a great job, even if it gets discouraging sometimes! Thank you so much for reading and for your sweet words! Have a wonderful weekend!

      ~Abby =)

  8. Thank you so much for this post. I found it over a year after you posted. We recently found out my husband has cancer, completely treatable, but he will have to endure 7 weeks of chemo and radiation. I have spent most of the day feeling completely overwhelmed by the situation. As I try to clean house with 2 little ones running around and worry about bills and the long term impact on my family I have prayed and talked to God. I finally stop for a break and was looking through your site. Then, He spoke to me through your words, “I don’t always know what God has in mind when He calls me to a task, but I do know this: God is always good. He always has a purpose that is greater than my own, and he is always, always faithful. So take up your torch and your trumpet and march on, mama. God will be guiding you every step of the way.” Thank you!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Oh, Shannon! That is a lot to be dealing with! I’m so thankful that your husband’s cancer is treatable, though– praise the Lord! My mom battled cancer when I was in college, and she actually said at one point that she was afraid for her cancer to be gone because as she went through her treatments she felt like she was having such a “mountaintop” experience with God, and she didn’t want that to go away. (I, on the other hand, was incredibly thankful when they were done and even more thankful that she has been cancer-free for almost 10 years now! 😉 ) I will be praying for you and your husband and children as you walk down this road over the next months. I know God will be holding you all in the palm of His hand the entire time. HUGS!!! <3

      ~Abby =)

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