Faith & Family Live! : Encouraging Women

I love this blog post from Faith & Family Live! It was just what I needed to hear. (Thanks, Rachel!)

Encouraging Women

Several years ago, when my boys were very, very little, a friend with older children told me to enjoy these years--because they were "easy." Compared to what she was going through with teenagers, I guess it seemed like my life with four boys under aged five was a cinch.

She told me to enjoy these grand years and I proceeded to hyperventilate--things certainly didn't seem all that easy from where I stood!

Now that I have some older children (but no real teens just yet) I see what she meant in a sense --things are a bit simpler when the children are younger. But I will tell you right now that life with little children is challenging in a very unique way, and I have found it to be the most challenging.

I still remember how very discouraged I felt after that comment. I didn't need to hear that things were going to get harder because I felt like I was barely treading water as it is. Comparing myself to others didn't give me any extra grace to move through my day.

Likewise, I think it can be very easy for mothers to look at a family with more children and wonder "how they do it" (I certainly do this from time to time). It is tempting to compare family size and then wonder why we struggle to get through the day when another woman with more children seems to do just fine. But this gets us nowhere!

As women, as nurturers, as mothers-to-be or mothers of many or a few, we need to encourage each other. None of us should ever feel like we are doing less (or made to feel that way) because our family size is smaller or our children are at an "easier" stage--we are all operating on the grace given to us to live our own life, the one God has given us. There is not grace for me to have nine children because God has given me six. Likewise, the mother of three children has the grace for that--she doesn't need grace for anything else.

Be encouraged! Whether you have one baby or six babies, whether your children are tiny or teens or somewhere in-between--keep up the good work. And don't compare--don't think for a minute things *should* be easier because you have fewer children or older children--embrace where you are at right now and know the grace God sends will be exactly what you need, to help you through your day.