Dear Stay at Home Mom

Trevin Wax, at the Gospel Coalition, wrote this incredible post to stay at home moms over at his blog. You can read the whole thing here. 

Here is just a little bit:

You scan blogs and read books about being a good mom. You find some helpful tidbits here and there, often from women who are grandmothers now. Women you can learn from but who seem to have forgotten the struggle. They seem to have it all together. In your heart, you want to be the kind of mom who trains up kids to make a difference for the kingdom. You know it’s an honor to be entrusted with these kids. You know you’ve only got one shot. You want to be the mom who teaches them the Bible, models how to pray, and trains them up in the fear of the Lord. But most of the time you feel like you’re barely holding it all together. Your house cleaning can’t keep up with your kids’ mess-making. The kids embarrass you by acting up right when your guests arrive. Your husband doesn’t get just how worn out you are by the end of the day. You come to the end of your patience. You lose your temper. Then you feel worse. The last thing you consider yourself to be is a “good mom.” And you think to yourself, It’ll be a miracle if my kids turn out okay. And – surprisingly – that’s right where God wants to meet you. The place where you admit your powerlessness and your need for Him. It’s only by God’s grace that any kid grows up to be a force for the kingdom.

And this:

It’s divine grace that will transform your parenting – not guilt. It’s grace that will keep you going and serving and scrubbing when you’re exhausted and worn out. It’s grace that will conquer your feelings of inadequacy and remind you of God’s love for you in Christ. It’s grace that goes for the heart of your kids, not just their behavior. God has demonstrated the fullness of His love for you through the cross of His Son, even while you were still a sinner.