Sleeping 90 minutes at a time. Worrying if the cough was something more. Cleaning breast pump parts. The season when our two girls were little was a season I’d rather forget that cherish. I could not get away from the crying, diaper changing, and sleep deprivation fast enough.
You might be in this season now. Or maybe you’ve made it through the baby/toddler season, but your new season doesn’t seem to be any easier. You wonder, “Surely, the next season will be better than this one! Let’s get to that one now!”
There are seasons of parenting that we just aren’t grateful for.
The newborn season ushers in worries about health, weight gain, and sleeping patterns.
The toddler stage has us wondering if we’ll ever sit down and enjoy a hot cup of coffee again.
Those elementary years find us relinquishing our children to outside influences that we don’t have control over as our kids learn how to navigate homework and becoming more independent.
And middle school? Who hasn’t want to rush through middle school??!?!
Finally, those high school years of phones, hormones, and friends when we as parents hope we’ve done a good job and we coach our kids from the sidelines.
Each stage has its pros and cons, and each stage has those parts that we don’t want to cherish, but would rather skip past.
But what does God have to say about these seasons?
In every season, God is doing good work in us and through us.
Every season is both wonderful and hard, and every season has its God-ordained purpose. Here are three reasons to be thankful for the season you’re in.
God has called you for such a time as this.
Yes, this. This sleep deprivation. This never-ending laundry pile of onesies or uniforms. This time to chauffeur an entire soccer team.
God assigned you these people with these flaws and struggles for such a time as this. He’s placed you where He’s placed you so that you can be conformed more and more into the image of His Son.
God isn’t ignorant of your situation and He will never leave you on your own. He isn’t shocked that you’re tired or frustrated or wondering what to do next. He’s placed you in this season so that you’ll become the mama He’s designed you to be.
God gave you your position as a mom for such a time as this.
God uses every season of motherhood to refine you.
Yes, you. You are His favorite. You are the one He’s just crazy about. You are the one He picked to raise these children. You are who He thinks about and sings over.
God uses the method of motherhood to bring you into alignment with Him. He isn’t surprised that there are certain parts of it that you aren’t thankful for, but He’s specifically placed in you this season at this time so that He can peel away the sin and selfishness so that you become whole and wholly His.
Motherhood brings with it expectations we think you’re supposed to meet, isolation we feel closing in, and anger over the littlest things. But the beautiful part is that God uses all of those messy situations to bring us into His arms. He hears our confession, speaks truth to our hearts, and loves us into forgiveness.
God refines us more into the image of His Son as we parent with Him.
God knows motherhood is hard.
Yes, hard. Hard because motherhood is physically demanding. Hard because it seems like the only way to get it all done is to clone ourselves. Hard because our kids break our hearts with their defiance and hurtful words and disobedience.
God designed it so everything we do can sanctify us, set us apart, and this includes motherhood. Motherhood is hard and sanctifying, which means that we desperately need God and we desperately need others.
If motherhood was easy, we would be self-sufficient and there’d be no need to trust and obey God because we’d have it all together. If motherhood was easy, we wouldn’t need people like mentor moms or same-stage-of-life friends who’d share our burdens. But motherhood is hard on purpose so that we could learn that we aren’t self-sufficient, but God-dependent and community-contingent.
God is with us in each and every season, even the ones we’re not grateful for.
Mama, it’s okay if you’re not thrilled with the stage you’re in. It’s hard to get excited about spit-up or helping with homework or watching Paw Patrol when you’d really rather watch Gilmore Girls. It’s okay to take note of the hard just like you remember the good.
But let’s not wish this season away.
God has placed you in this season for such a time as this to refine you and to partner with Him and others. There is something that God will teach you and show you and love you through if you’re willing to not wish the season away.
God is just crazy about you even when you’re not crazy about the season you’re in. And sometimes that’s all we need to know to carry us through.
Written by me and originally published at For Every Mom.
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