Survival Guide to Motherhood: A 7-Day Parenting Pep Talkಮಾದರಿ

Day 3: Keep Your Sanity - Emotional and Spiritual Health

Emotional Health

Can we be honest for a second? As moms, our emotions can be the easiest to ignore. We have so much running through our brains all the time, making it easy to let our emotions run wild on us. The best remedy to keep your emotions in check is to remember that Emotions don’t always represent truth.

We tend to project our feelings onto someone else when they don’t actually think or feel that way. Emotional check-ins with yourself are huge in these moments. They’ll help bring you back to reality and allow you to think about what’s real. And in these times of emotional turmoil, you can always use a good friend who can speak the truth to you and talk you off the ledge.

As a mom, your emotional health is key to the relationships between you and your children. Think about it! If you’ve had a hard day at work and nothing has gone your way, and when you get home, and your toddler spills their sticky juice on the floor, you are way more likely to react harshly. The quicker you can be self-aware of where you are emotionally, the better off you will be in interacting with and reacting to your children. Good emotional health for you will ultimately lead to healthier relationships with your children. And what mom doesn’t want that?

Spiritual Health

I cannot stress working on this area in your life enough, especially in motherhood. My relationship with the Lord grew tremendously when I became a mom. Fear I had never experienced would try to grip me, but I held on to God’s truth. In 2 Timothy 1:7, the Bible says this:

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (NLT).

Never in my life had I needed the things only God could give as much as I did when I became a mother! I needed the fruit of His Spirit—all the love, joy, patience, peace, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control He could offer in abundance (Galatians 5:22-23). I don’t think you can be the kind of mom you want to be without the fruit of the Spirit. I know my children liked me better when I was exhibiting those fruits. But you can’t have the fruit of the Spirit unless you’re walking and abiding with Christ (John 15:4-5).

Your walk with the Lord can be a game changer in your life. Moms always tell me they don’t have time for quiet time. I’m here to suggest that you can’t afford not to have a quiet time. And who said it has to be quiet? Shout it out to God!

I need You! Give me patience with these children. Fill me with Your love, Your goodness, Your kindness. God, give me wisdom. I have no idea what I am doing.

Whatever it looks like for you, you must find time each day to connect with God and grow your relationship with Christ.

Of course, I recognize that time is limited for you as a mom. That means connecting with God may have to look different depending on what season you’re in as a parent. Along the way, I’ve found a few things that have helped me focus on my relationship with the Lord in creative ways.

• Place notes around the house with relevant Scripture.
• Go on a walk by yourself after the kids’ bedtime so you can pray.
• Find just five quick minutes to read a short devotional
• Play worship music in the house in the morning or the car on the way to pick up the kids.
• Whatever it looks like for you, don’t take the benefit of focusing on your spiritual health for granted.

What could it look like for you to find time each day to connect with God and grow in your relationship with Christ? If you don’t have this time in place, which one thing would you like to try to implement?