Are you missing joy?

Parenting sucks the life out of me.  It is not just a slow leak, but a vicious vacuum leaving me catching my breath at the end of the day.  Each child is different:  different needs, different learning styles, different tastes, different backgrounds.  Just different.  I am me.  My needs, style, tastes, and background absolutely affect the way I parent.  Lord, help me.

It is no accident that I have eight children.  God has purposed that for me.  Today, I need a recalibration though.  I enjoy many mom moments.  Life brings its giggles, it goofiness, and its greatness.  Lately I have felt so much heaviness, impatience, and frustration.  I miss joy.

Life’s seasons change.  Winter will change to spring.  The cold and barrenness will yield to sunshine and new life.  Such is my life.  I know that.  God has not promised me a perfect life.  He did, however, promise to walk my life with me.  He knows when it is really dark.  He knows what will lift the heaviness.  He knows that spring is coming.  He is there.

God reminds me in Psalm 16:11 “You (God) make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

There is the answer.  My joy is not dependent on my kids or my mom role.  Joy in life is found simply in the presence of God.  God’s Word even says that joy is full.  Wow.  I missed it again.

I could give many excuses for not spending time with my Savior.  Anyone could look at my crazy life and say that I am so busy that my head spins.  I am training both toddlers and teens.  Ten people make a lot of messes, use a lot of laundry, and dirty a lot of dishes.  My husband and I are the only ones home who have a driver’s license.  Kids just require a lot of everything. 

But these would be only excuses.  I would continually be left empty and simply going through the motions.  I would be missing the passion of walking with God in this life that he has purposed for me.

Please, Lord, give me a renewed desire to sit with you, to listen to you, to be loved by you.  Help me to see joy in the mundane.  Change my heart to love others like you love me.