Redeeming the Time: practical encouragement for today

Motherhood can sometimes feel like a lonely journey. Whether it is because it is difficult to leave the house with littles in tow or because our journey in motherhood doesn’t look “Instagram perfect” or because the postpartum hormones are distorting our perspective…whatever the reason may be, there are moments in every mother’s life where we feel alone and like a challenge that we may be facing is unique to us. My aim with this blog is to create authentic lifestyle posts filled with encouragement and tips that I have gleaned along the way. My hope is that you connect and find a community here to share in the joys and challenges of being a mother.

There are so many mommy blogs out there that tend to be very surface-level, giving the “Five best ways to ___” or “Try these three things and you will ___” etc. They offer quick feel-good statements with surface-level advice and a picture-perfect life. They do not speak to the craving of a mother for lasting affirmation, identity, raw authenticity, and true encouragement. My life is not perfect. I am not a perfect mother. I will be open and honest and raw before you and welcome you to do the same- I would love to hear from you! Motherhood isn’t always picture perfect. There are moments where we are sitting in a dark closet with a closed door to the yelling of our children with tears rolling down our cheeks thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?”. There are moments when we doubt everything we do for our children and compare our every effort to the Instagram mother who obviously has arrived as a mother because her children seem perfect. There are moments where our anxiety seizes control and causes us to constantly compare what we are doing with every other mother. There are moments of severe depression and even rage, especially when battling postpartum hormones. Our children aren’t always perfect either…and often at the worst times, when [horror of horrors] people are watching! There are tantrums in grocery stores, your in-law’s home, or even in the church nursery! There are moments when you arrive at your destination and all you can say to yourself is, “I tried. When my child was placed into the vehicle, they looked presentable” versus now after they’ve ripped off their socks and thrown their shoes in the car and pulled off the hairbow or vomited on their clothes or decided to have a blowout in the car (and of course the extra outfit in the baby bag is always forgotten at the worst moments!). And I can go on and on.

My hope for this blog is for it to be a safe space and a true refreshment to a mother’s soul with genuine heartfelt encouragement and advice that I have gleaned along my own path as a mother. I want you to leave any post I’ve written with more joy and peace and purpose in your identity as a mother than before you sat down to read. It is has been my heart’s desire for so many years to walk hand-in-hand with other women in the unity of our calling as a mother and to offer any help that I can in each of your journeys.

May your heart be lifted up with a renewed sense of joy in the sacred call to be a mother.

So let’s walk hand in hand together down this beautiful journey!