Mommies Are In High Demand

This past week was Thanksgiving.  It was great to get to spend time with my family (both immediate and extended) for a few days and not worry about my husband having to leave home for work.  And despite the "vacation," I did have enough going on to have a post for today.  (Yay!)  This isn't something I've recently learned in my life, but it is something that I feel compelled to write on.
Mommies have a hard job.  We nurture, feed, clothe, and support our children.  We stress, worry, and console them.  The emotional end of the "job" in itself is exhausting.  Not only are you supporting someone who cannot physically or mentally support themselves, but you are in demand 24/7.  (Note: This is not a working-vs-SAHM post.  Whether you are home all day or have a 10 hour a day job, you are always a mother and you are always in demand and supporting your children in every moment. I am also in no way implying that Daddies don't also work hard and offer support to their children and wives.  But I'm a mommy, so that's the end of the spectrum that I can write about.  My husband is wonderful, and this blogpost should in no way be seen as a feminist piece.)
I was originally really looking forward to  our few days away from home this past week.  Being around family is great and I so enjoy catching up with everyone, but it's also nice because the kiddos  have others to occupy them aside from just Mommy all day long.  I thought this would be a great time to catch up on the rest that I've missed out on because I or someone else in our home has been sick consistently for the last month and it has been draining.  I took advantage of any naptimes I could, I let the kids be held by anyone that wanted to hold them, and my oldest went on walks and watched movies with my parents. But despite the occassional twenty minute power naps, I still came home completely exhausted.
We came home yesterday evening and I was looking forward to a great nights' sleep in my own comfortable bed and figured I would wake up refreshed this morning.  Well, I am probably about as far from feeling refreshed as possible. I wanted to get a few things done around the house in preparation for a new week, so I stayed up way later than I should have.  My husband has the awful cold that I had the last three weeks, and is now coughing all night long, which makes me, (a very, very light sleeper,) stay up most of the night, my youngest is still too young to sleep through the night without nursing, and our children now like to wake up between 5:30/6am every day.  I know that today I will exist mainly because of the Gloria Jean's Mudslide K-cups I bought on sale Black Friday. (And no, I can't blame some of my exhaustion on crazy Black Friday shopping.  I go every year... But not until about 10am on Friday, and never on Thanksgiving Day.)
As I'm sitting here sipping my second cup of hot coffee and wallowing in my own tired complaints, I am reminded of something I read about a year ago.  I did a morning quiet time for a while based on the book, "Real Moms... Real Jesus." by Jill Savage.  It was probably one of the most eye-opening and heart-changing devotions I have ever done, and i highly recommend it.  One of the weeks was entitled, "Can I please go to the bathroom alone?"  Oh my, how I identify with this!  There is always either a little hand or a Matchbox car peaking under the bathroom door when I go.  I am lucky if I get to take one of my every-other-day showers alone in the evenings because my oldest has become obsessed with taking showers also, but is not near old enough to take them alone yet.
Matthew 4:25 says that, "large crowds followed (Jesus) wherever he went."  I bet he had his share of bathroom interruptions.  He was in high-demand, just like mommies are.  He understands!  Everyone flocked to him wherever he went, and there was no break for him from being the Son of God.  Why couldn't people just cut Jesus a break and let him take a nice nap or read a whole book in one sitting?  Because they adored him.  They admired him.  They loved him!  I think the same is true about mothers.  We support, feed, clothe, and play with our children.  We offer them our attention.  And they depend on us for so much to the point that they could not survive without us.  We are adored!  We are admired!  We are loved!  Of course we are in high demand!
One other side of this that I realized as I sat quietly this morning is that while we are in high demand on the mother side we are also God's children.  He keeps us fed, clothed, supported, and alive.  How am I not spending more time admiring, adoring, and loving him?  Where did my child's heart disappear to?  I pray that as I learn to grow as a mother, I also grow as a child.  As God's child.  Always remembering that my strength to support my children comes not from my K-cups, but from God himself.  Which means a quality quiet time with God needs to be higher on my priority list than it is right now.  Jill Savage says in her book, "When Jesus sent the crowds away so that he could spend time with the Father, it was an act of love for the Father and for himself.  He also loved the people, but he knew He couldn't give to them out of his emptiness.  He needed to spend time with the Father to be able to minister with a full spiritual and emotional tank."  We as mothers can not continue to bear everything and support everyone without first filling ourselves with His word and strength.
So when you have one of those days where you are exhausted and have so much to do so there's no way you can fit in a quiet time, that's when you need it the most. It may be hard to set aside the time, but it is necessary.  Love the Father like you never have before so that you can love your children like they have never known.