How to Mother in Busy Seasons
My alarm goes off at 5:00 AM, and from there it is go-go-go until I lay my head down around 9:30 PM. I have to get myself ready, get my two-year-old ready, eat my breakfast, pack my lunch, feed her breakfast, prep her lunch, chat with her babysitter, and drive to work. Then after working all day, I return home, prepare and feed us dinner, clean up after dinner, bathe my daughter, put her to bed, tidy the house, and get myself to bed. And this is just a normal day—it doesn’t include the many social, church, and family activities we typically commit to each week. Busy does not begin to describe the experience of most mothers these days. Whether you are a working mom or you stay home each day with your kids, we all have more activities, tasks, and basic care-giving to do than we feel we have time for. Thankfully, the gospel offers us hope during these busy seasons. By turning to Christ, we are able to find the rest, sustenance, and peace we need to be able to mother well even in the midst of busyness.
Keep Close to Christ
The most important thing we can do during busy seasons is to continue to foster our relationship with Christ. It might seem counter-intuitive to add another task to our list, but fostering a relationship with Jesus is not just another task. It is essential to our well-being and our rest. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” True rest is only found in Christ.
Keeping close to Christ does not require a two-hour quiet time each day. It can be as simple as a few five-minute blocks throughout your day, and prayers in your car or as you prepare meals and put your kids to bed. Using a Bible study is also a great way to stay close to Christ during busy seasons, as it has everything already planned out for you. A great Bible study for chaotic seasons is our study on motherhood, Grace in Chaos.
Live in community
Additionally, regularly participating in Christian community is essential to experiencing the benefits we have in Christ. The Church is Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:12–14), therefore, we can remain close to Christ by staying connected to His body.
This can be as simple as regularly texting your Christian friends, participating in a Bible study or small group at your local church, and/or regularly attending a Sunday worship service. Christian community will not only encourage you in your walk with Christ, but also show you that you are not alone in your struggles. Your church community can carry some of your burdens for you and support you in times of need. For more on the importance of community, check out our study, Craving Community.
Experience the grace of Christ
Even when we regularly spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, and in Christian community, we will often still feel overwhelmed by our busy lives, and feel like we are failing as parents. This is where we need the grace of Christ that is found in the gospel. People are always telling us as moms to “give ourselves grace” when we are struggling with our own inadequacies. But we do not have adequate grace to show ourselves. We need the grace of Christ—and we are told that His grace is sufficient for us even amid all of our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). This means He has more than enough for us. Whenever we feel like we have dropped the ball, we can run to His grace. When we feel that we have failed our children, we can run to His grace and trust that He will never fail them. In our human frailty, it is hard to avoid feelings of failure and weakness, but we know that in Christ we find both strength and grace.
So as you are go-go-going about your busy days in this season of motherhood, remember that Christ is not overwhelmed. He does not feel behind, and He will not fail. Turn to Him during these seasons. Do not neglect your relationship with Him or His Church, and remember to rely on His grace during moments of weakness.
