Motherhood is a Blessing

This was originally shared as a devotional at a friend’s baby shower. Her baby girl’s name is Jori Marie.

Motherhood is exhausting. And it can be frustrating. And it tends to come with lots of extra work. From dirty diapers to spit up to middle of the night feelings when you’re so tired you’re not sure which end of the baby is the head, it can be easy to find yourself lost and discouraged in the early days of life with a newborn.

But motherhood is so much more than those dirty diapers and exhaustion from a lack of sleep. Motherhood is one of God’s greatest blessings, and I love that you’ve chosen a name for your daughter that will remind you of that fact each and every day. [Jori = blessing]

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalms 127:3-5 ESV)

But it is in the midst of the day-to-day tasks of motherhood that we can lose our vision. We take our eyes off the blessing of our calling as mothers and we begin to look around at the chaos around us.

I want to encourage you to find time each and every day to look for the blessings. Stop and identify out loud to yourself the blessings that God sent your way that day. Whether its the blessing of a smile on your daughter’s face or the blessing of a washing machine that was able to remove the spit up stain from your favorite shirt, name it and write it down. There are days when the blessings will be difficult to see through the struggles you’ve faced. And there are days when you’ll be able to name more blessings than you could ever have imagined.

Whatever the case, take time each day to name those blessings.

Write them down when life is going good and you are enjoying every moment with your kids or when an unexpected blessing falls into your lap or when you just can’t help but be thankful.

Write them down for the days when you can’t see beyond the piles of laundry or you find yourself rocking a screaming baby for hours on end or you find yourself on the verge of tears because you’re pregnant and your 4.5yo son just ran away from you in a large store and you have know idea where to even begin to look for him and no energy left to deal with finding and/or disciplining him.

Write them down so that you will never forget that motherhood is a blessing – no matter what the circumstances you currently face.