Own It, Embrace It

I woke up this morning, the clock glaring 4:33 am in bright red as I stumbled up the stairs.  Behold, in front of me, a brand new carton of milk and a full package of hot dogs.  Both sitting on the counter just waiting to wish me a happy Friday morning.  Awesome.

Is it just me or do any of you other mommas feel like you walk around with a dirty haze of "mom guilt" hanging out over your heads like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown?  I left the milk and hot dogs out... now I have to pitch them both.

As I continued on with my morning I found myself dwelling on the guilt and the shame. Messy kitchen.  Forgot to do the laundry last night.  Mackenzie might have to wear a dirty uniform to school.  Need to buy new hot dogs for tonight's mummy hot dogs.

And then it dawned on me.  Umm, hello?  Mummy hot dogs?  Just the fact that, that was in the cards for tonight's dinner should erase the cloud of guilt from atop of my head.  And that clock?  It could have reflected something more human like 7:00 am.  The reason I was up this early?  Because my daughter has a gluten allergy and I wanted to make her cake pops so she doesn't miss out on the treats at her Halloween party this morning.

Mommas, Satan is the Father of Lies.  John 8:44 says, "There is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

This Father of Lies would love nothing more than to twist every beautiful part of motherhood and taint it with guilt and shame and ugliness. 

He wants to disguise all of the ways you sacrifice.  He wants to twist all of the big hearted momma things you do and make you feel like you aren't good enough.  That you'll never be enough for your husband and your babies. 

And that's such a load of baby poop.  I could have used another word, but hey, we're in the diaper changing stage of life so, you know...go with it. 

This morning, I propose we start fighting back.  Lets start speaking words of life and of truth to ourselves.  Start a list of all the ways you are a good mom. 

No.  A great mom.

You are amazing. 

You are hard working. 

You are worthy of this calling of momma and wife.

Proverbs 31:28-29 says, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her.  Many women do noble things but you surpass them all."

Dwell on that today.

You are not perfect.  There will be days of spoiled milk and salmonella poisoned hot dogs. 

Pitch em' and move on. 

Show yourself tons of grace.

Start writing out truth until you believe it. 

Record your birth story.  Be damn proud of the fact that you carried a baby and then brought him or her into this world.  Think of how you successfully made it through that newborn fight to breastfeed your little guy.  Remember all of the nights you cuddled your teething 6 month old and soothed all of her pains away.  Think back to that first birthday smash cake you worked so hard on.  You've got the messy faced pictures in your home to prove it.  Remember the first stitches that weren't your fault, but you were there to be a warrior for your kid. 

All of these time markers are here to stand as reminders that we are not run by fear or guilt or shame. The grocery store meltdowns don't even hold a candle to all of the ways you've been a boss at motherhood.

Own it.  Embrace it.  You were made for this.  Love you mommas!