How A Mother of Ten Deals With Weariness

I have been receiving emails from moms who want to know how to deal with the weariness of being a mom. So I emailed my facebook friend who always has joy in her journey - Jeanette Wood. We crossed paths on her blog at A Moment With Mom . Today she'll share her "secret" with us young moms.


Here she is:

My name is Jeanette Wood(pictured at right). I am the wife to my best friend, Joe, and the mother of ten children ages 21-5(pictured above along with their grandparents). Six children were born from us physically and four were born from our hearts through adoption. We have a special needs child, our adopted son, who was born with FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).

Life is always busy at my home but also blessed! Our days are often filled with home school activities, living on a robust farm, and sharing our lives with others. Currently, we live on 16 acres where we grow our own food, raise beef cattle, have our dairy cow, sheep for meat, chickens for meat and eggs, ducks, geese, cats and dogs for pets and horses as well.

My husband is a truck driver and is often on the road for a week at a time. I have had to learn how to juggle the demands of the day with him long distance. We enjoy living simply and have spent many years of our marriage living 'off the grid.' Living without electricity, washing our cloths in a creek, harvesting our food from nature, cooking over an 1800's wood cook stove, growing our own groceries and learning to process the food we grew or raised.

The Lord has and continues to do a transforming work on my life Courtney. Often people 'see' who I am today and believe I must of never suffered the pain of sin, had a perfect childhood, made all the right choices, had a perfect marriage, never weathered life storms and yet that is simply not the case.

Here's what I asked Jeanette: "Having 10 kids would overwhelm most of us - is there one verse that you would recommend to a weary mom and tell us practically speaking how you overcome the challenges of weariness so you can enjoy your children."

Oh, one of my favorite verses is: Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Let's face it; life is simply hard at times! There are so many challenges we face, struggles we wrestle with and unexpected courses that take our breath away. Life is not for wimps and some days I wonder if I am not the queen of wimps! However, the Lord has faithfully taught me over the years and continues to do so.

Let me share what I have learned. There are three things sure to bring a spirit of weariness in my life.

1- Trying to do things in my own strength. I will never forget the day the Lord talked to me about this lesson. I was a young momma of three, driving across town to take a meal to a friend who had just come home from the hospital. My day had been overwhelming and I was in tears as I considered the dishes I needed to do, the laundry that was piling up and the school lessons I still needed to grade. As I prayed for help, the Lord reminded me that I can come up with many 'wonderful ideas' but that doesn't mean they are His ideas.

If I just do the things I think are wonderful and don't carefully pray about what He wants me to do I will become weary. I won't have the measure of grace to see me through, the strength to complete the task before me nor the joy to share with others in the process. I won't have the confidence to endure the trials because I don't have the confidence of knowing I am right where He wants me. This means that I must take time to sit at His feet, that I must truly study His Word and prayerfully considering my thoughts and actions.

2- Getting caught up in 'rights.' When I start counting offenses, or thinking about what I deserve, what's right or what's fair. I'm sure to grow weary and fast! I am constantly reminding myself, and the children, that we were "bought with a price- we are not our own." My days are ordered by the Lord... good ones, bad ones and ho-hum ones! Each day God is doing an eternal work in my life for His glory and my own good. I must release what I feel I have 'rights' to and allow Him to simply work.

3- Expectations. This is related to the second issue yet, important to mention specifically. Expectations are dangerous to have and often lead to weariness. We all have certain expectations to some degree but it is important to let go of the expectations that keep our relationships in turmoil. I have learned to inspect my children's work instead of expecting them to do it. I have learned to appreciate what my husband does instead of expecting him to do something for me. I have learned that I have Joy when I am considering how I can serve others instead of how others are serving me.

There are still many times when I remind myself that I have done all I know how to do and now I must wait for the Lord to accomplish His work. "Duty is ours results are God's" is one of my favorite quotes from John Quincy Adams. I must continue to do what I know He has called me to do even when I don't see the fruit of my labor, for in due season I will reap a reward!

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Thanks Jeanette for sharing!!! Wednesday we will hear again from Jeanette when she shares a list of practical things we can do to manage our homes without weariness. For more encouragement today from Jeanette go to A Moment With Mom. (Last week she shared wisdom on Potty Training, Laundry Issues and Sibling Issues) You will be blessed!

And just a side note, my life verse happens to be Galatians 6:9!! If you don't have it memorized - I highly recommend you jot it down and begin to memorize it! God has used it in my life to combat weariness more times than I can count!

Walk with the King!