Motherhood: The Freedom Of Not Being EnoughShembull

The Do-It-All Disease

What I don’t quite expect is to feel irritable. And, yet, there I was getting grouchy with the chef (a woman) who was being interviewed on a cooking show. “I have two little girls and I have a full-time job as a sous chef,” she said. And then she added, “I just want people to look at me and go, ‘Wow, how does she do it all?'”

Her over-the-top honesty made me irritable but it also made me introspective: Don’t I love to be seen as multi-tasker who pulls off an impossible schedule with ease? Don’t I love to look like I have my juggling act together? Don’t I love to the idea of doing it all?

Yes, to all of the above. And, yes, to feeling exhausted from trying too hard. 

Here’s the antidote to the “do it all” disease: Do what God has called you to. He has prepared good things in advance for you to do. Not all things. Not all things “expected” of you. Not the things your neighbor does or the other moms at school do. Just the things He has prepared. 

I love Chris Tomlin’s song ‘Good, Good Father,’ especially the line: “I am loved by You;  It’s who I am.” That pretty much sums it up. I am loved by God. That’s who I am.

Not the sum of my actions. Not the checks on my to-do list. Not my salary or my college degrees or if my house looks like a magazine center spread or if I host pinteresting parties.

I don’t need to prove my worth by doing it all. I just have to live loved. That’s who I am.

Lean In

Lord, I often buy into the world’s ideals of “doing it all” and “having it all.” But I know that when I try to run that rat race, I get dry and empty inside. Thank You for showing me through Your Word that You give me a sense of worth and identity and purpose. Thank You for preparing good works in advance for me to do so I don’t have to do it all. Amen.