HOPE

For years I've felt God's calling on my life to write. But lately, I've been so busy raising my children that I'm purely exhausted by the time I get them down for a nap or in bed for the night. I'm not sure how other mom bloggers do it. When I'm not flat out exhausted, I'm busy taking care of other things that need my attention. Lately I've felt a stronger desire to start writing again, but I can't even think of anything that I feel is worth writing. I'm sure that is Satan's desire for me, to feel inadequate. But when I came back to my blog today after months of being away from it, I discovered something very interesting. YOU'RE STILL HERE! I still have people visiting, even though I haven't written since April. So to you, I say THANK YOU! Thank you for instilling hope into my life again; hope that someone out there really does want to hear what God puts on my heart. 

And now, I pray that I can give back some of that hope that you've given me.

Today I feel like there's someone who will read this that just needs to know that life gets a little crazy for everyone at different points in life. It's not just you or me. 

My favorite sign in our house.
It's a constant reminder to me that this is not the end!

Dear mom reading this, you will get through this stage of life and it will happen SO fast! Our oldest is 16 years old. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms. Our baby is already over a year old. I no longer have to rock him to sleep and he's sleeping through most nights. He's starting to play a little more on his own. It will get easier! Those sleepless nights and endless feedings only last for a short while, but if you're right in the middle of it, it seems like it will go on forever. But one day, you'll actually miss it. I promise! Everyone told me that and I didn't believe them. Our baby is the last baby we can have, so it's so bitter sweet to watch him grow up.

Dear single mom, I've been there too. I can't count the times that I cried out to God and wondered why I had to do it all on my own and why my son didn't have a dad like he deserved. But God had a perfect plan there too. I just had to be patient and wait for God's timing. I wish I could've done it with a better attitude. I got downright mad at God for feeling like He abandoned me. But now I can see reasons for Him making me wait. He had the perfect husband for me and the best dad to my son. God was just waiting for me to take my focus off of finding a man, and fixing my eyes completely on Him. Once I finally did that, I met my husband only 6 months later.

If you're a woman who has been told she can't have kids, I can relate to that too. I'm very blessed to have my 4 boys because there was a time that a doctor told me that he didn't know if I would ever have any children. I had stage 3 endometriosis at just 16 years old. How my heart ached when I saw others with their children. And it really bothered me when I saw people who didn't treat their children well. I wondered why God would give them children and not me. I know He has a plan for those families too, but it seemed so unfair. I ask that if you are in this stage, trying to have children, please try to put ALL of your trust in the Lord. He has great plans for you! Jeremiah 29:11 ~ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I hope this post has spoken to you and given you hope. No matter what you are going through, God really sees you and cares for you. Even if you're not a woman and your struggles have nothing to do with parenting, He cares about you. You will get through these hard times!

Be blessed my friends.