Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. —1 Peter 5:8
As moms, we have a very real enemy, and it’s not our 2-year-old eating sugar in the pantry, or our husband who may or may not be doing his fair share.
It’s Satan.
He wants you to be exhausted and overwhelmed. He wants to discourage you with circumstances. He wants to find you tired and weak so he can attack. The way to combat this is to pay attention to your mom heart and invest in the areas that feed you.
In partnership with Barna Research, MOPS International has developed five critical attributes that a mom can invest in to help her be her healthy best:
1. Her emotional core. As a mom you need to feed your emotional self with moments away from your children, free from worry and anxiety. Do you take opportunities to relax and do something that brings you joy, such as reading a favorite book or exercising? When you notice your shoulders getting tight and your voice sounding snappish, do you have a strategy to relax and unwind? Every mom needs an outlet for creativity and relaxation, one that gets her back in touch with who she is as a woman, a wife, and friend.
2. Her circle of support. Moms not only needs friends to laugh with, but they also need parenting support in the form of a mentor or parent that they can talk to.
3. Her spiritual development. This is central to your emotional resilience and how you view your role as a mom. Being plugged into a life-giving church and a small group are vitally helpful.
4. Her marriage. Our research showed that for married moms, having a good relationship with her husband was central to how she felt she was doing as a mom. For unmarried moms, having another key support person or partner is essential in her core development as a mom.
5. Her mom finesse. Every mom needs development in practical parenting skills to build her self-esteem and mom confidence. From our research, this could come from books and seminars, but most practically came from mentor learning and connections with other moms.
From Beautiful Mess by Sherry Surratt and Tracey Eyster. Click here for a FREE sample.
