Mom Chronicles- Part 3
First things first, I’m the tiredest.
We have a big family. Like the kind that makes strangers and family alike go into a panic
at the mere mentioned of its size. Our tribe is 5 children strong. Now, if that doesn’t get
your parental adrenaline pumping, let me just add that I also run my own business from
home, work part-time for a marketing company at home, and homeschool our oldest 3.
Throw in soccer practices, soccer games, performing arts classes, performances,
birthday parties, family functions and church things and you can see how quickly one
can go from being a completely sane, organized individual to someone who doesn't
know what month they are living in! (It’s June, right? I’m pretty sure it’s June. Maybe.)
Organizing the life of 7 individuals takes some pretty serious logistics, planning, and
copious amounts of time. I’m pretty sure at this point I could organize a successful,
large-scale SWAT bust or something. Everyone needs a backup, right? Anyway, I
schedule everything out (usually around midnight), put it all on our phone calendars,
then add it to my planner, if I haven’t given in to sheer exhaustion and passed out on the
couch yet. I know what is coming up, I know where we need to be at what time, and I
know the things that we are supposed to accomplish that day. I also know that I haven’t
slept through the night in 8 years, 7 months, and 4 days, but whatever.
So many times as mamas, we get lost in the daily activities and weekly schedules and
forget what spending quality time with our kids actually looks like. We measure our
success and failure as parents by how many lines we did or didn’t cross off our to-do
lists that day, or how many school lessons we did or didn’t get through. While those
things are important to running a household and raising children, God’s purpose for us
as mothers goes way beyond organization and scheduling!
God has entrusted us with nurturing the most important parts of a person. We, as
mothers, have the capability to reach the hearts of our children, speak to their spirits,
and tend to their souls while they are here with us on this earth. Anybody else not
remember checking the “soul-tender” box on the hospital forms? Yikes, right?? That’s a
massive responsibility when you start to think about the extensiveness of your role!
So how do we tend to our children’s souls and still find the time to maintain a relatively
organized life? Here are 3 intentional things that I do with our children that don’t take up
much time, but have a huge impact:
1. I do my best to stop what I am doing and listen to each one of them when they
speak to me. This was one of the hardest things for me to do. I have FIVE children!
If one of them isn’t talking, the other four ARE. How are you supposed to get
anything done if you are constantly stopping to listen to someone?? I noticed that
when I started looking into their big excited eyes and told them I was listening, it
didn’t take as long to listen as it did before. I was no longer preoccupied with
checking my email and having to constantly say things like, “hold on!”, or “wait, what
did you say?”, or “come back and tell me in a few minutes”. You also learn a lot
about who your children are, and what issues they deal with when you take the time
to be present and listen to their hearts.
2. I look for teachable moments in everything that we do. In our busy days,
sometimes “teach a Bible lesson” would fall to the bottom. I would get to the end of
the night and wonder what I taught them about the Lord and His Word. By looking
for moments during the day, where I can say “God’s Word tells us how to handle this
type of situation”, I show them that God is much more than just a lesson. He is apart
of our everyday life!
3. We stop, and pray. We adopted this method a few years ago, and we have already
seen the fruits of this simple action! Our children pray for each other and us, and are
not afraid to announce a prayer request. Whether it be for a boo-boo, a bad attitude,
a friend that isn’t being kind, a worry, a fear, whatever it is, we stop at that moment
and I pray with them. I want them to know that I care about their concerns, and so
does the Lord.
How are you tending to your child’s soul? If you are a busy mom (is there really any
other kind?), you can start being intentional with the job God has entrusted to you, and
make the most of your time with your children by pouring into their lives moment by
moment!
Your fellow busy mom,
Amanda Freyre
