Do you want to be a successful mom? Of course, you do! Who doesn’t, right? If you’ve been a mom for any length of time, I’m sure you have experienced days, like I have, that felt anything but successful. You know the ones… the kids were up at the crack of dawn. Before your feet hit the floor, someone or something had already caused a catastrophe. You swept Cheerios from under the highchair at least five times, changed a dozen diapers, consoled a teething baby, tried to rock to sleep a little one who had no intention of taking a nap, and then watched the clock waiting for daddy to come home, only to find that he had an unexpected meeting that would detain him later than normal. At the end of those days, when laundry sits unfolded, and there is some residual stickiness left on the kitchen floor, you feel rather unsuccessful. Let’s be honest, motherhood is not a calling that brings along with it a lot of measurable success, especially in the early years.
I think the sense of failure that we moms often feel stems from an unbiblical view of success. At the end of the day, we feel like a failure, because our view of success is skewed. The world says that to be successful you must achieve, acquire, and accomplish. What did you accomplish today? Well, Mommy looks around and doesn’t see a whole lot of things that stayed “done” and it looks like she may not have accomplished much.
However, God’s definition of success is not measurable results, but faithfulness to obey His will. He is not going to judge us by our accomplishments, because He ultimately controls those outcomes. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” At the end of life, God is not going to count up the number of loads of laundry that you folded and put away, or whether or not your kitchen sink was clean each night. He is looking for faithfulness in your attitude and conduct as you went about your day. Were you submissive and flexible as He rearranged your plans? Were you willing to clean up the accident with a sweet spirit and breathe grace into your child’s heart in the process? Did you “train” or “bend” your child in the right direction or break his little spirit because of your harsh or snappy words? Were you in such a hurry to get out the door to lessons, that you lost your temper because someone couldn’t find his shoes?
How do we cultivate faithfulness and keep a proper focus on God’s priorities, rather than all of the things that we wish to accomplish? Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Spending time in God’s Word is key to your success! Meditating on it, soaking yourself in it, pouring it into your child’s hearts is essential to be “prosperous” and “have good success.” Our children need to see that we love God’s Word (Psalm 119:140), that we value it above everything else. It needs to be the thing that guides us as we walk through the moment-by-moment issues that arise during the day. When our children are small, we need to be hiding it into their little hearts (Psalm 119:141) and we need to actively pursue applying those verses to daily situations. They need to see us modeling faithful obedience each and every day.
When you turn the lights out at night, God is not nearly as concerned about the fingerprints left on the mirror or the things that you were unable to cross off of your to-do list. He wants to see humility and consistency in your conduct. God wants you to be successful, dear mom! At the end of life, He wants to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” as much as you desire to hear it! The Lord is the One who ultimately controls the measurable results of all of your efforts. Stop worrying about all of the little things that you aren’t able to accomplish and trust Him with the outcome. Choose to simply be faithful in the process! You can do it, mom! Be a success for God today in your attitude and actions!
Abigail strives to be a joyful wife to Scott and mother to their five blessings – Lily, Joseph, Grace, Emma, and Samuel. She enjoys homemaking, organizing, homeschooling, and bargain shopping.