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Being a woman, wife, and mother, I like being “secured.”  I appreciate feeling sheltered, safe, and cared for.

Merriam Webster defines security as:

the state of being protected or safe from harm

things done to make people or places safe

freedom from fear or anxiety

Some of us have a strong sense of security when they think of their husband, family, friends, and sometimes church group.  Sometimes we take for granted too often the security that we can find in being part of an extended family and community.

Being fleshy human beings, what I myself really wish to define security in my life is a lack of want and worry.

Here is my list of securities:

1. I want a full pantry stocked with all of the groceries that we would need for long term use.
2. I want a freezer full of produce and meat that we have prepared and put up for the next year.  If I had a cellar, I would want it filled with canning jars full of fruits and vegetables that I worked hard at canning.  I would love to see baskets of fruit saved for the winter, and bins of potatoes that we would use throughout the coming winter months.
3. I would love to see a huge pile of firewood, all stacked up nice and neat.  This would ensure that we would not go cold even for a second in the coming winter months.
4. I would love to have my closets and drawers full of clothing and shoes to fill every child’s need.  Even if we had to throw a few away throughout the winter, I still would want to have enough outfits to make it through the coming year.
5. I would love to have financial security, probably one of my greatest desires.  Money in the bank to adequately cover our living expenses.  Do I need to go to the store?  Not a problem.  Want to help a friend in need? Money can be freely given.  Unexpected medical bills?  Not a problem there is an ample cushion for whatever emergency needs arise.

Instead I am reminded that there is NO REAL SECURITY in today’s world.  The pantry can be full and well stocked one month, and then running low the next as we feed our growing children. Our wood supply is getting low and a storm is expected to hit in the next few days.  Clothes wear out and there isn’t the time or money to be able to go get replacement ones.

And these are just the petty cares in my world.

In other areas, floods, wars, hurricanes, and tornadoes, storms, and earthquakes rage all around us.  We never know when the next disaster will strike.  If we solely focus on the upheaval in nations around us it can fill us with dread.  I know it is not good to focus on the turmoil out in the world.

As for financial security, that is hard to capture as well.  Bills can accumulate as fast as we can pay them.  Prices rise up on groceries, gas, and taxes.  Sometimes it can almost seem impossible to make ends meet.  But guess what? We do.  We always manage somehow.  Yet it sometimes causes me worry and fret.

Since I can find no REAL security in the world, I turn to the ONLY one who can provide that for me.  In God’s word,  He promises in Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

God’s word can be a comfort in times of need and stress.  His word is full of promise and comfort.  We can  ALWAYS look to God for comfort, peace, safety, and shelter when the cares, responsibilities, and trials of this world appear.

If you want a more in depth study of what true security means through faith alone I encourage you to read Habakkuk 2:2-11.

God tells Habakkuk in these verses that He is in control.   His revelation is certain to occur at exactly the right time, even if it seems to  be delayed. Habakkuk is to live by faith, believing that God will fulfill His plans exactly at the right moment, and trusting in God’s good character. He is supposed to believe and trust even when circumstances seem to indicate that God is not good, or not in control.

So where is your security? What do you trust?

• Your financial assets?
•  Your husband? Your parents? Your friends?
• Your strength? Your abilities? Your self-assurance?

All of these things can and will fail.  You can lose your financial investment overnight.  Just as the thousands of Americans who lost it all back a few years ago.  People will one day let you down, because we are human fleshy beings.  All of your strengths and abilities can crumble in one full swoop when trials arise.  We should never put our security in these things.

The only true security you will find in this world is in God alone.

• He alone is our rock and our salvation.
• He alone will never leave you nor forsake you.
• He alone frees you from the need to watch out for yourself, to harm others to protect yourself
• In Him alone will you find the life that is filled with a joy and peace that no one can understand.

As a Mother, wife, woman, and child of God, I put my life and security in the ONLY one that I know will keep me protected and safe.

God gives me the ability and power to provide as best I can here on earth for my family. He gives me the knowledge to plan and prepare and stock my pantry as best I can.  He provides the resources to prepare financially for our future.  When the outlook looks bleak at times, I continue to put my faith in Him and He ALWAYS works things out.  No need to waste time worrying, He has it ALL figured out.

JOYFUL……

Tell another Mother that they need more of that in their lives and you are likely to be attacked with bad looks.  Most moms that I know have piles of laundry that seem to never get done, they change diapers round the clock, they get less sleep than anyone I have ever met, and they are generally on overload most of the time.

So how is it that we as mothers can experience more joy in our lives?

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

― Marianne Williamson

In reading 1 Peter 1:6-7 it reminds us that we can be both joyful and overwhelmed at the same time:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In these verses Peter was writing to people who were rejoicing in spite of trying times.  This is something that we need to look at first

It is possible to experience joy and be overwhelmed at the same time.

We live in such comfort in this country that we come to expect freedom from hunger, sorrow, and too much work.  God sometimes uses pain, persecution, or difficult situations to bring His people closer together.  How is He going to do this if we avoid everything so that we won’t be overwhelmed?

Have you ever noticed that a mother of 2 can be just as overwhelmed as the mother of 10?  This should tell us that it does not matter how many children that you have, even though having more certainly does bring about more work, but rather it is about our attitudes towards having them.

If our attitudes do not line up with Christ, then it can cause us to be overwhelmed.  If in the back of our minds, we are harboring thoughts of what if…..what if we spaced our children farther apart…what if we didn’t choose to have so many…what if we stopped altogether…..maybe we could cope better.

But God does not give us more than we can bear if we rely on Him.  It just doesn’t fit the description of God.  Why would He create a child and then swamp the mother with so much work that she didn’t have the time or the ability to properly raise him?

I know that God has each of us in different places in our lives and some He has called to have large families, others He has not, but what I am trying to convey is that it is about our attitudes of the heart not whether we have 2 children or 10.

I often think of people in other countries who have families and how difficult it must be to just complete the daily tasks for the day without all of the modern conveniences that we have available to us. Doing something as simple as washing the clothing, could possibly take an entire day to do.  Especially if they had to walk a distance to get the water.  Then as we look at doing laundry and sometimes it does take all day, but we are washing 100 times the amount of clothing.  Thank God for a washer and dryer to do all that in.

All of us Mothers have times when we feel overwhelmed.  There are times when even when night time rolls around we are still trying to get tasks done for the day.

There are certain tasks that need to get done and there is just no way around it.  If I see that I have too many tasks on the agenda, I make a list of what needs to be done.  I might scratch off those tasks that aren’t going to hurt anyone if they don’t get done, even if they seem important to me.  Maybe my refrigerator hasn’t been wiped out in months.  Maybe those windows have been smeared with fingerprints  for most all of the season. It is okay to let some things go.  I am sure your family would rather have a mother who wasn’t worn out and tired than one who got everything done and was short and snippy each day.

Some husbands prefer their wives to have their tasks completed so that when they return home from work they are able to sit and relax together.   Others don’t mind if their wives are bustling around sometimes creating more chaos.  This will be a personal choice whether you choose to be done or keep working.

An area that you can cut corners with is food.  It is better to be a happy mom than one who serves desserts or time consuming meals.  If you are busy, keep your meals simple.  There will always be another day when you can bake cookies to save for another day.

Keep your lunches simple.  Heat up some refried beans and put on tortillas with some cheese.  A quick and easy lunch.  If you serve with some apple slices you can even get away with not serving on any plates.  Use napkins.  Make clean up easy.  If you are constantly feeling busy, you need to lower your standards in order to find time for the more important things.

Remember when you get a day that isn’t so busy take the time to do something out of the ordinary.  Take your children to the park for the day.  Pack a simple lunch and just let them play.  Join in with them and play.  It will make you feel rejuvenated especially if you have been stuck in a house with a crying baby.

Sometimes it helps to tell the children, if you help me finish baking on Wednesday then Thursday we will be able to goto the park for the afternoon.  Include them in your tasks, life shouldn’t be overwhelming especially with a house full of willing hands.

It helps to set up certain times to get normal household tasks completed in a week.  I used to feel like I had to have everything done and my house spic and span and then I could enjoy myself.  I was a wreck trying to get it all done.  Now I ration out my chores for the week and then I do them on the specified day.  Sometimes that means I have to endure looking at dust covering my television and tables.  I know that I will eventually get to it that week, just not going to stress about it today.  If you want more information on how I organize my weeks look at large family organizing.

Another area that is important to watch out for is lack of discipline.  Maybe the reason we can’t keep up is because we like to sleep in or we go to town too often.  If this is the case, we need to change our ways.  We are called to be keepers at home, that doesn’t mean that we spend the majority of our time away from the home.

Sometimes that might mean that we need a quick cat nap in the afternoon to help keep up.  It is better to leave some work undone and take care of ourselves than to drag on to the last drop of energy.  But if we are reading an interesting book instead of getting our work done, than that is a different story.  We need to be mature enough ourselves  to discipline and work and rest and accordingly.

Remember, sometimes we  are just not going to have it “all together.”  It happens to all of us.  It isn’t a lack of faith or poor management.  It is part of having a family or having too many irons in the fire.  We have to look at the big picture daily or we will definitely not be joyful.  We need to constantly remind ourselves that God will not give us more than we can handle if we keep our priorities straight.

 

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
Fyodor Dostoevsky