Finding Contentment in Every Stage of Mothering

Where are you in your life? Not whether you are in the diapering stage, the school-age stage, or teen stage… but where are you in your heart? Are you content with where you are, or are you seeking more?

Mothering can be a tough job. We face many challenges unique to mothering as we also battle through everyday life. How can we be happy or content with so much expected of us? What can we find to make us happy and able to enjoy every stage of mothering?

I have been looking for a lot of things lately to satisfy my desires. The biggest thing I have been looking for, though, is a close friend. You know, the friend you can call at a moment's notice to come over and spend time with you - to laugh, to cry, to talk, or to just sit in comfortable silence. The friend who is beside you through all your triumphs and your trials. The one who accepts you for who you are.

In all my searches for happiness, recently I had my hair cut shorter and styled with a little flip in all the layers. It was uplifting to have this small change in my appearance, and I felt like a new person. But when we try to satisfy ourselves, we eventually start looking for the next thing. It just seems natural for us to want all the bells and whistles life has to offer.

Two weeks after my haircut my curling iron broke. I had to stop styling my hair. My six year old told me, "Mommy, do the flippy thing with your hair. It looks so pretty when it is flippy." I told her I could not use my curling iron, so for now there will be no bells and whistles - just me.

The next morning I looked in the mirror and God spoke those words back to me - "no bells and whistles, just me". All the desires of my heart can be found in him. I may not have what I want, but I have what I need. He wants to be my best friend whom I can call upon at any moment - to read a book with, to sing with, to laugh and cry with, to stand beside me in triumphs and to carry me through struggles. He is my friend who accepts me as I am. And most importantly at this time in my life, he is telling me he wants to spend time with me in comfortable silence. It is only through him I find contentment in every stage of my life. Again he has reminded me, "Be still and know that I am God."

I find again and again this is the answer to enjoying my children – and life – in each stage of mothering. Slow down. Be still. Know he is God. Focus on him, find solace in him, and everything else falls into place.