Living the Mom Life - Day 1 of Bootcamp

The weekend of April 14th, I joined my friend Kristen and went to MomLife bootcamp at  Pine Cove in Tyler, TX. I arrived Friday evening excited but also tired and worn down just from my daily activities. After I checked in, I started on the short devotional they had put together for us. The questions to answer on that day were about my fears for my family, children and for myself. Of course I did not want to answer because that would be admitting that I am not letting God handle my fears but truthfully I am not good at letting go of my fears and letting God have control of my life. Yep, I've admitted it.

I fear messing up my marriage. I fear becoming an addict like so many in my family. I fear my children not finding Christ and messing up their lives with addictions or not finding peace in Christ and instead search for it through worldly gains. I fear not being a Godly woman, wife, mom and example.

Now I would love to say after one weekend of bootcamp all those fears went poof into thin air. In reality, I was just reminded that I am not the only one who has these fears and struggles. There are moms who every day get up and look at themselves in the mirror and worry over ruining their children. Tracey Eyster, author of Be the Mom, spoke about the tug of war between doubt and doing more. She spoke of doubts such as "I am 'just' a mom" and how we as women and especially stay at home moms doubt our value in this world. She went on to say that to make up for those doubts we start 'doing' more. More activities such as spending more time cleaning our house, volunteering, saying yes to everything that comes along, etc. Pretty soon we are 'doing' so much we are not 'being' what we are supposed to be. Moms. Our children are not receiving the best of us and get the us when we are tired, cranky and worn down which means we are usually snapping at them and giving them the worst of us.

One of my favorite things she said was "If the enemy can pressure, pull and distract you away from fulfilling your God gifted role as mom, he robs children of the one thing they can not get from anyone or anywhere else." Wow. So yes, I am JUST a mom, but I am given the job by God to give my kids my love and attention. I am given the task of just BEING with my kids, not doing this, that and the other. I need to stop thinking in a Martha sort of way and start being like Mary spending time with God and my kids, showing my kids the importance of family love and time together and just Be The Mom.

The task Tracey ended with was for us to make a "To Be" list rather than a "To Do" list. List the ways we can just be with our kids. When I arrived home Sunday evening, I danced with my children, blew bubbles and cuddled. The bags didn't get unpacked, the blog didn't get written and the dishes stayed in the sink. That's okay, they were all there on Monday waiting on me.