Good morning, mama.

I’m guessing yesterday didn’t go quite like you hoped. Maybe you forgot to use your gentle voice as you told someone “gentle hands.” Maybe you slept through your alarm and someone was late for school. Maybe you didn’t get the dishes/laundry/dinner done quite like you planned. Maybe your day went incredibly well, but still, bedtime still ended in tears.

I want you to know that you are loved and beautiful, apart from all the mistakes you made. All of your successes and all of your mistakes, no matter how big or how small, aren’t a factor in this. You are beautiful and you are loved, because you are a child of God. Created in his image.

Again, today, you will make mistakes.

It’s okay! You are not perfect. You were never made to be perfect in this world.

In fact, there’s no perfect answer. No right answer. None of us could do your job correctly, at least not every minute. This isn’t a math problem or some mechanics that need to be repaired. There’s no manual. No parenting book can walk you through this entirely. No expert can always give you the perfect advice. No, you are a human, and you are caring for, loving, carefully raising a human. A unique, beautiful, loved, fearfully and wonderfully made person. This is a journey, like training for a marathon, each step strengthening you to make your next. And you are not alone.

You were made to run this race with God, to take this adventure each day with God. To grow with God. To seek God and learn to love like God loves you. You were made to rely on God.

So, today, persist. You will make mistakes again. It’s part of parenting– it’s part of all life, in fact. Pray. Forgive yourself and let go. Learn. Begin again.

You can do this. Press on.

Love,

me

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9