All Types of Mothers--working from your strength saves energy

I was inspired today by a discussion online. If you are homeschooling and chronically ill, you don't have energy to waste. But it's so easy to waste our energy feeling guilty. And not being a good mom can easily top the list.

But the truth is God made us different on purpose. He didn't make any moms who fit a cookie cutter. Sorry, but few (if any) of us fit the descriptions that are read in Mother's Day sermons. There are those who naturally make cookies and always have all the right clothes picked out and provide a nice stable home. But they have trouble with the spontaneous interruptions and struggle to be "fun" with their kids. On the other hand, the "fun" mom has trouble getting all the mom-work done in a timely fashion.

I read a book MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths that really helped me see that I was a good mother. See the type of mother I thought I should be, I was really not good at--and doubly so since I was sick. BUT I realized that type of mother was missing a lot of things that do make me a good mom! In the end, no mother is any better off. Each one has to learn to serve the family out of their strength and do their best to stretch in areas that are not so natural. One of the blessings of being a mother is that we are forced to grow as people b/c being a mother requires us to taking on so many varying task. And we can learn to bring other people into our child's life to fill in our gaps. That's what community is all about anyway!

So, I hope you can learn more about how your strengths bless your family, even while you are sick. God made us a certain way on purpose and there is no point comparing ourselves--especially those of us who have no energy to waste.