I’m trying to finish my coffee before I have to scurry around my home like a crazy person to get the kids and myself ready to go to a volunteering event and  I decide this is a good time to catch up on my e-mails before my crazy day starts. Is that ever a good idea? There is always one thing by the end of the week that brings you down just enough that it ruins your morning or day or weekend.

Mom, don’t let that e-mail, remark, article, facebook status, talking mums in the corner, etc get to you.
You are doing a great job!

Were you in a rush the other day and still ended up doing all the cleaning after service or playgroup and trusted that the rest of the jobs got done like you were told? Did you just get that call and you had to take the fall?

You are doing a great job!

Did you collect supplies for someone in need or to show appreciation and then were told they still were not good enough? Are they still sitting in the same place you left them?

You are doing a great job!

Do you clean up after every program: rec, story time, Sunday school; and instead of a thankyou you are told you put the things in the wrong place? or are not doing it ‘right’? even though you were never asked to clean to begin with?
You are doing a great job!

Did someone just correct you, and not in a polite way?
You are doing a great job!

Were you just rejected again? Your book wasn’t accepted for publication, the perfect job fell through, the volunteer opportunity you were really looking forward to filling, a leadership opportunity is gone?

You are doing a great job!

Someone said something about you that wasn’t true and its spread?
You are doing a great job!

A lot of things can go wrong. A lot of things do go wrong. You ask to have the trash taken out, you don’t follow up on that and now instead of that week’s trash, you are stuck with 2 weeks of trash on your front steps, overflowing. Just remember it is the trash can that is overflowing with trash. Not you!

You are overflowing with God’s grace and love.
You are overflowing with the feel of little arms around you and a kiss on the cheek at bedtime. You are overflowing after a large family dinner.
You are doing a great job!

I get it. Trust me! I’m outnumbered in my home. A lot of the time I still seem to do something wrong even though I’m tired and do nothing but try, work hard, and care. Things do even out though, the Light is all around us. I see the Light every day, even when my day is at the worst. Things do not stay hard or unappreciated forever. It may feel like that now, but Jesus promises us:

You are doing a great job Mum! You can hold your head up high with confidence. You are wonderfully made!