Mom’s wherever you are, whatever you’re doing – You are enough and this is for you!
I don’t know where you’re reading this. Perhaps you’re sitting in your car, stealing a few minutes to yourself. Or maybe someone shared this with you at work. Or you’re hiding in your bedroom, with the door locked, and you’re fighting back tears because this has been one of those awful days that you wish you could forget.
Think about those words for a minute.
You are enough.
Like tasting a fine wine, sip those three words and swish them into the recesses of your mind.
You are enough….
I remember the first time I found out I was pregnant. I looked at the nurse like she had 3 heads, I had just gone off the pill and this wasn’t supposed to happen yet. The joy that I felt after the shock wore off was then overcome by concerns.
I had a drank this month, I ate sushi, and took medication… I’m already a bad mom. I’m not enough.
While in labor I remember fear setting in as nothing I had planned was going the way it should.
How can I possibly care for another human being when I can barely do this birthing thing? What have I gotten myself into? I’m not enough.
Him getting a fever and needing to stay in the hospital all because I read something that said don’t rush to the hospital when your water starts to seep. My baby, I hurt him already! I’m not enough.
Night after night, every three hours I nursed my newborn back to sleep. As I held that beautiful baby in my arms I was in awe.
I’m exhausted, I’m worn, I just want to sleep. I’m selfish to be thinking about myself and the sleep I’m losing out on. I’m such a bad mom. I’m not enough.
A tumble down the stairs, a fall in the yard, a bump on the head, and a trip to the emergency room… frightening moments in a young toddler’s life. As I wipe my child’s tears, I worry.
Homework, tests, making and losing friends, all the stresses of raising a school-aged child. As I think about this stage of life I fill with anxiety.
I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t understand this homework. I can’t protect him from hurtful friends. Are his grades good enough? I’m not enough.
Sports, sports and more sports, what is to much, what isn’t enough, how do I help him to get a collegiate scholarship? I’m not enough
Going to work, staying at home, working at home… these life decisions overwhelm me.
What if I make the wrong decision? What if my work-life affects my relationship with my child? What if I’m not a good stay-at-home mom? I’m not enough.
I’m not enough.
These words rob us of our joy and destroy our confidence in our ability to mother.
You need to know something though… you are enough!
Whether you adopted, had a cesarean, had an intervention-free birth, took an epidural, birthed in a hospital, or labored at home… you are enough.
Whether you nursed or bottle-fed, whether your child slept in your bed or in their own crib… you are enough.
Whether your child had a scratch, a bruise, stitches, a bump, or a broken bone… you are enough.
Whether your child had decent or amazing grades, one friend or many friends… you are enough.
Whether you’re a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom… you are enough.
I know this because there is a little someone who loves you and who looks at you with adoration. I know you’re enough because there is someone who delights in being loved by you.
You’re a mom. The fact that you think that you’re not enough indicates just how amazing you are. However, whether your children are weeks, years, or decades old, they need you to love yourself just as much as you love them. They need you to realize you are enough!
Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing… this message is for you.
Yes beautiful mother… you are enough.