Article by: Sarah Koontz, Founder of Living by Design Ministries
“Oh, no! Mommy, we were supposed to get a package of 12 hot dog buns, not 8,” my youngest exclaimed when we got home from Target last night.
I was already feeling guilty for stepping foot in a Target store with the debate that has been raging in Christian circles since their new restroom policy. And now, this?
My eldest daughter earned a $25 Target gift card from the orthodontist and those sorta have to be spent at Target. So my family had piled into the car and headed to Target in search of hot dog buns, toilet paper and $25 worth of toys.
And I didn’t even get the right number of hot dog buns for the field trip tomorrow?
Regroup Mom, you can do this!
I searched for the sheet with all of the instructions for my youngest’s field trip, but couldn’t find it. I did, however, discover a sheet telling me that I was supposed to bring the hot dog buns to school by last Thursday. Ooops. It’s Sunday night.
More guilt.
My mind drifts to a similar situation from last week. It was the day before Anya’s field trip to the 1899 School House in Keystone. The teacher had sent home a note telling me to refer to a note from the week before with all of the details about the trip.
I couldn’t, for the life if me, find that first note.
My kids have been clearing out their desks and lockers in preparation for the end of the school year and I have been swimming in papers. I try to look at every single one, but I must have missed it.
The dog ate my homework…I mean my field trip info!
So, feeling like a complete failure, I had no choice but to approach her teacher and ask a few uneducated questions. Finally, after a bit of teasing, she relinquished the necessary details and I was able to attend the field trip without incident.
Back to the present situation, I have no other option but to text my daughter’s teacher for info about tomorrow’s trip.
These poor teachers!
If they were giving me a grade, it would be a big fat F for sure.
The last few weeks have been rough. I have had far too much on my plate, and when I look back on it all…I only see the mistakes. I only see the choices I regret, I only see the failures.
I see the other moms who are helping out with PTA activities, volunteering in the classroom, freezing their tails off at the School Track Meet.
And here I am, feeling disconnected and discombobulated.
Of course, when I share these feelings with my husband, he rationally points out that I am probably making a bigger deal of all of this than is necessary (and no, the teachers aren’t at home right now thinking about how terrible of a parent Sarah Koontz is).
But that’s one of the perks of being a woman, isn’t it? We get to be super emotional and make a big deal out of little stuff because it feels big to us.
Encouragement for all the moms who are struggling to survive to the end of the school year.So, I’m writing this post for all the moms out there who are struggling to survive the last few weeks of the school year.
No, you aren’t the only one. I’m right there with you.
This mothering stuff is hard.
But I love my kids, and I know that you love yours. No matter how much we mess up, it’s important for us to remember that our children just want us to be present with them.
Hot dog bun fiasco aside, my daughter is just thrilled that Mom is going on the field trip with her.
She doesn’t see all my failures because she’s focused on the one thing I’m doing right.
I’m trying my best.
When my tank is empty and my emotions are all over the place, I know it’s time for me to head to the Living Waters for a nice long drink.
God’s Word has the ability to soothe our frazzled nerves and nourish our weary souls.If I’m going to make it through to the end of the School year, I need an infusion of God’s power into my life. I need the calm assurance that only comes from time spent with Him, soaking up the truth and reminding myself who He created me to be.
Here are some scriptures that I return to time and again when life gets the best of me.
You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. Isa 26:3-4 NIV
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:13-16 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:8-10 NIV
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Eph 3:20-21 NIV
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:3-6 NIV
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 2 Sam 22:33 NIV
As I pack my kids up for school this morning, I’m going to fight the urge to feel guilty because the donut holes I am sending with my eldest daughter are in honor of a half-birthday that came and went more than two months ago.
I will happily make another trip to the store for more hot dog buns (and to replace the paper towels I accidentally grabbed last night with the toilet paper my family so desperately needs) before I’m scheduled to arrive at 9:35 to drive for the field trip.
Tonight, my girls and I will wrap up the teacher gifts that were supposed to be turned in a week ago and I will fight the urge to turn the “Thank You” cards into “I’m Sorry” cards.
Being a mom is hard work, but it’s the best work.
I’m not about to give up and you shouldn’t either. We can do this, Mama! Summer’s just around the corner…
