As a child, I don’t remember a day where my mom was not there. I am told my mom had to put me in a home daycare for a week after I was born, so she could transition from day shift to night shift, but I have no memory of that time. I was home with her all day, and my dad was home at night when she had to work. She worked very part time as a nurse on the night shift. She was home with my brother and me all day as a stay at home mom who also happened to work part time nights. She basically did not sleep.

Can you imagine?

Maybe you do it. Maybe you sacrifice your sleep to be present in your child’s life while they are in need of you the most. All moms have to sacrifice for their family. Moms are pretty strong.

Do you know how powerful your presence is in the life of your child?

At times we devalue our motherhood experiences so much because the world tells us that we should not sacrifice too much. Good luck defining too much to a baby who is awake at night with teething pain, or a preschooler who is struggling with wetting the bed and needs you to change her sheets (again) this week. It can feel exhausting to be stretched so thin on sleep or patience or both. We can feel like being present with our children every time they need us is too much to give.

Giving is not going to bankrupt our lives. Giving to others does not leave us with nothing in the end.

I think about God. I think about all I have received from trying to follow God’s word in my life. God has given me life. He has given me chance after chance. He has given me the people I love the most. He has given me everything. He keeps giving.

I don’t ever give God anywhere near as much as He gives me. I have not always loved Him without fail, I have not always followed his Word perfectly. But I believe. I know he is there even when I turn away. There are times now as a mom when He is the only help I have in a tough moment or during a difficult day.

Why would God give our children to us if we were not strong enough to give as much as they needed?

My mom was there, so I could believe that love, sacrifice, and God, were possible.

I had tough challenges as a child. My first surgery occurred when I was 6 weeks old and I have had multiple procedures since then. Never did I have to navigate it alone. My parents were there.

Their presence taught me that I could rely on them.

Their presence reassured me that I could rely on love.

Their presence taught me that believing in an ever-present loving God made sense.

Children learn if love is real and reliable from us. The presence of a mother in the life of her child is powerful and much more necessary than this world would have us believe at times. As mothers, our ability to prove that our love is sure and steady is important for teaching our children to believe in something bigger than themselves-to believe in God.

The presence of a mother and father is powerful. God has a plan for all of us, and we can help Him by following His guidance. He teaches us that giving will not leave us depleted.

Acts 20:35-“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

 The presence of a mother in the life of her children is powerful. I am teaching my children not only to grow into strong people, but to understand that they do not have to be strong all on their own. They have me. They have a strong God.

Jaimi Erickson is mom to 4 (2+twins), a military wife and former teacher who works in the home as a stay-at-home mom. Her heart for encouraging moms to realize their importance turned into a blog-The Stay-at-Home Mom Survival Guide-where she shares encouragement, simple kids activities for infants, toddlers, preschool and school age kids, and articles on many mom-related topics. Her goal is to let God lead. She would love to connect with you on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

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Suggested Book Selection From Lisa Brown Creator Of This Blog – Me Too Moments For Moms – Affiliated With Amazon

“Often the biggest obstacle to living out our faith is our own doubt–about our worth, our abilities, our relationship with God, and situations in our lives. A Confident Heart gives voice to the questions, doubts, struggles, and hopes so many women have. Author Renee Swope shows us how to identify, overcome, and learn from our self-doubts so that we can live confidently in God’s assurance, truth, and grace. Perfect for women’s small groups or individuals, A Confident Heart is an authentic, insight-filled and encouraging message for any woman who wants to exchange defeating thought patterns with biblical truth that will transform the way she thinks, feels, and lives.”    A Confident Heart

 

 

“Bestselling author and popular blogger offers an inspiring vision that art is what happens when welive like we are actually alive, blessing God and others in the process.”    A Million Little Ways:…

 

Desperate is for those who love their children to the depths of their souls but who have also curled up under their covers, fighting back tears, and begging God for help. It’s for those who have ever wondered what happened to all their ideals for what having children would be like. For those who have ever felt like all the “experts” have clearly never had a child like theirs. For those who have prayed for a mentor. For those who ever felt lost and alone in motherhood.

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

 

“Read the Wall Street Journal bestselling book that has helped close to 100,000 women embrace who they are and become all they’re created to be. 

With this heart-to-heart message, licensed counselor and certified life coach Holley Gerth invites you to embrace one very important truth–that you truly are already amazing. Like a trusted friend, Holley gently shows you how to forget the lies and expectations the world feeds you and instead believe that God loves you and has even bigger plans for your life than you’ve even imagined. 

“This is a book for every woman who needs to find her way back to hope, Jesus, and everything she was made to be in Christ. Holley Gerth is a fresh voice for every woman–she echoes the voice of our Father.” – Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of One Thousand Gifts ”            You’re Already Amazing

 

“Because Motherhood Isn’t Just a Job. It’s a Calling.

A mother’s day is packed with a multitude of tasks that require energy and time: preparing meals, washing clothes, straightening and cleaning the house, and caring for children. These jobs all are necessary and crucially important. But in the dailyness of providing for a child’ s physical, emotional, and social needs, vital opportunities for spiritual nurture and training can be overlooked.

This doesn’t have to be the case. You can focus your energy on what matters most. Learn how you can:

• Make Life’s Mundane and Nitty-Gritty Moments Work for You and Not Against You.

• Discover Ways to Make Character-Building a Natural Part of Live.

• Teach Your Child in the Same Way Jesus Taught the Disciples.

• Pass on Crucial Gifts that Will Serve Your Family for a Lifetime.

Using biblical wisdom and practical teachings, Sally Clarkson shows how you can make a lasting difference in your child’s life by following the pattern Christ set with his own disciples–a model that will inspire and equip you to intentionally embrace the rewarding, desperately needed, and immeasurably valuable Ministry of Motherhood.”
The Ministry of Motherhood