Sending Thanks to a Mom – Gratitude Project

I am writing at least 36 letters expressing my gratitude. And I want to pray for them on that day as well. Go here for the original post and list of recipients. I am writing about it here in hopes that it spurs someone on to write their own gratitude letters.

Letter Four: Mom who could use the encouragement.

Moms of all stages and ages have times when they doubt their mothering abilities . . . Times when they KNOW they’ve blown it and ruined their child(ren) . . .  Times when fatigue and overwhelm crowd out reasonable expectations for their offspring . . . Times when they doubt they’ll ever get it right.

Friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors of moms can make a difference during these times. We can speak truth into their lives. We can give them a perspective shake-up. We can affirm their actions and who they are.

That is what I did today. I prayed. I looked over my list of mom friends trying to pick one. Every single mom had at least one heart ache regarding mothering.

I wrote 4 encouragement notes.

1. One mom has 6 children (all older) and wonders whether she is making a difference in this world or even in her own family. And she wonders how she can continue to parent that difficult child with wisdom, compassion, and grace.
2. One mom has an infant and 2 toddlers. Life is so much the same day-by-day. It’s boring (she says), overwhelming, soooo tiring and never-ending. She wonders if she’ll ever have her brain and body back.
3. One mom is dealing with a teenager and a toddler. The teenager comes with the normal teenage angst with the added kick of a disability. The toddler is one continuous burst of non-stop activity. Mom wonders how she’ll stay sane, awake and pleasant.
4. One mom has an adult “child” whose decisions are driving her to her knees. She wonders what she did wrong for this season to come upon her.

I can see myself in each of these woman. At various stages of raising my kiddos I felt inadequate regarding wisdom, perspective, energy, love, perseverance, and purpose.

I want to tell each woman to hang on. . . . God enables us. That doesn’t make the parenting task easy, but doable. . . . .This season will pass. . . . . You and your children will make it through. . . . You are making a difference. . . . The end of your story isn’t here yet. . . . Dig into Scripture and be faithful in prayer – that makes a difference – to your mental/spiritual state.  . . . You are enough especially with God’s indwelling Spirit. . . . Keep on keeping on. Someday you will be glad you did!

And most importantly – God adores you! Yes, even though He knows ALL about you.

I think I need to go write some more encouraging notes. And I want to pray some more too because that’s where I believe the most encouragement comes from.

Previous Letters: Letter One, Letter Two, Letter Three.

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During November I am writing or posting a photo about something for which I am grateful. This explains why. 

Gratitude for November 6: I am grateful for an hour. Although the time change happened on Sunday, I “found” my extra hour today.

I hadn’t changed the clock in my car and thought it was the correct time. When I got back in my car after shopping, I became fussy because I saw I only had a short time before needing to go to a meeting.

But once I was home and finished putting away the groceries, I saw that I had a whole hour before needing to leave.  🙂

I used that hour to write the above encouragement notes.

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Your Turn . . .

• What words of encouragement do you need to hear today?
• Have you ever received an encouraging note regarding your parenting? If yes, how did it impact you?
• Is there someone you could send a note to today?

Related Posts . . . 

1. 3 Encouragements I Needed When My Kids Were Young
2. Grateful for Encouragement
3. I Talk Scripture to Myself
4. Prayer Impacts Us in 5 Ways