You are Enough!
Blog – 5-9-18
I spoke and sang at a women’s retreat the last three weekends in Cedar Lake, Indiana. After two months of traveling, I’m SO happy to be home for a while!
After one of the sessions last weekend, a pregnant mom came up to me with tears in her eyes as she told me the song I had just sang felt like it was written especially for her.
She described a painful situation with one of her children where she felt like she had failed as a mom. Tears ran down her face as she shared with heartfelt honesty how inadequate and guilty she felt about this situation with her little girl. She felt like her reaction to the incident wasn’t right, and her heart was filled with regret. She went on to lament that here she is pregnant with another child; and she already felt inadequate with the two she had; how could she possibly raise another child?
My heart went out to this sweet young Mama. As I listened to her story, I felt her pain. But being a Mama who has kids who are much older, I also knew that the situation was not nearly as big as her sweet Mama’s heart was making it. It was normal growing pains. It truly wasn’t a big deal in the scheme of things; but as mothers, when it comes to our kids, things have a way of seeming larger than life.
One thing I’ve learned very clearly on my journey of being a mom is how the enemy loves to bombard us and overwhelm us with mother’s guilt.
I believe the reason we fall prey to so much “mother’s guilt” is because we are an easy mark. Our love runs so deep and so wide that it’s an easy target for the enemy to hit.
I’m not saying we love perfectly, because only Jesus was capable of that, but a mother’s love is somehow more intense than other kinds of love. And we try so hard to “do it right,” but there’s so many gray areas of what “right” even means! Most of the time we’re simply able to do our best and hope for the best.
It’s interesting to me that the song I sang was really just the start of a song. For reasons I didn’t understand until that very moment when I was speaking with this woman, the Holy Spirit kept pressing on my heart all morning that I needed to share this new song at the retreat. I didn’t really want to sing just part of a song, something that wasn’t finished, but the Spirit kept prompting me to sing it. I thought it was weird, to be honest, but I finally relented and shared it.
The song feels more like a mantra almost, and I invited the women to listen to it as a prayer. The lyrics of the chorus and the melody are very simple:
I am loved I am enough I have everything I need in Jesus
The theme of the retreats was “Branded,” and we focused on how we are branded by God’s love. The speaker, Trisha Davis, was incredible and spoke about God’s audacious, life-giving love. She encouraged us that we are enough because God is enough.
I had a beautiful conversation with this sweet Mama. I could tell how much she loved her children just by talking with her, so I encouraged her and affirmed that I knew in my heart she was doing a great job. We prayed together, and I gave her some tools to help ward off those negative thoughts when they start telling her she is not enough. One of them included singing that simple chorus over and over when those doubts start racing in her head, reminding herself that she is enough. And you are too, my friend!
If you’re in the middle of the hard right now as a mom, or life in general, hang in there. Cling to the truth that you are enough in Christ.
And remember, when we give birth (or adopt, as in my case!) to these little bundles of cuteness, we are giving birth to sinners! I know that’s hard to hear, but that’s the simple truth. Our little bundles of joy grow up to be sinners, just like us. They are going to make mistakes. They are going to fall down. They are going to get hurt. They are going to hurt others. There’s no way to avoid it. It’s simply a part of life.
As much as we want to keep our kids from making the same mistakes we made, we can’t. They have to find their own path through life, and making mistakes is part of it.
So I encourage all you moms out there, you are doing a great job! Don’t let the lies of the world get into your head and tell you you aren’t good enough.
You are loved, you are enough, and you have everything you need in Jesus!
In honor of Mother’s Day, I’d like to share a new video I just made for a song I’ve shared before called, “This Mother’s Love.” It’s a song I wrote for my son, Christopher, when he headed off to Marine Corps boot camp. It’s a song about letting go, the hardest part of being a Mom!
Enjoy and Happy Mother’s Day!
Hugs and love,
Jill