Encouragement for Mothers

This post is geared towards mothers. I don't mean to leave anyone else out, but I thought this was too good not to share. This is a passage from Keri Wyatt Kent's book, God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos (pages 62 and 63). Prior to this passage, she is talking about resetting our benchmarks, the ones by which we measure our spiritual "success." Instead of dwelling on guilt over not getting enough quiet time or spending as much time in prayer as we always thought we should, we need to measure our spiritual success by things like the fruits of the spirit and whether we are growing. And little things count too!

"This is the good news for mothers: the grungy, seemingly insignificant serving you do - cleaning up messes, wiping noses (and other body parts), preparing meals, dressing, undressing and bathing your kids - all of these things count in God's eyes. You are engaging fully in the discipline of service. If you can begin to view it as such, every little part of your day can be a way to connect with God.

"And all the parts of mothering that you love, like the way they fly into your arms when you get home from work or cuddling with a bedtime story or drying their tears, those count too. They please the heart of God.

"And God is not deducting points on some giant tally sheet in heaven because you missed your 'quiet time.' He's watching the way you trim the crust off the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cut it in triangles because that's how your toddler likes it, and he's saying, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"