I Want to be the Person My Kids Think I Am

I want to be the person my kids think I am.

Yesterday was a hard day. We're going through a lot with our oldest daughter right now, and yesterday was filled with overwhelming news. In an effort to recoup what I could from being mentally and emotionally absent for most of the day, I spent bedtime trying to snuggle every kid, pray every prayer, and sing every song. By the time I finally made it to the boys' room, one was asleep and the other wasn't far behind. I climbed into bed with the one who wasn't quite to Dreamland yet and snuggled up close. I was exhausted and I began to whisper my apologies at the back of his head.

At one point I said, "I just feel like such a failure sometimes."

He quickly whipped himself around in the bed and said emphatically, "NO! You're a Warrior!"

This caught me by surprise because, not only did I feel like a failure, but "warrior" would actually be the furthest thing from how I would describe myself.

"What??" I said. "How??"

"You fight for five kids every day and you always succeed. That makes you a Warrior Mom."

I looked at him with a smile, and choked back sweet tears because this seven-year-old child was calling something out in me that I couldn't even imagine. But it was so timely, and I believe it was a word from the Lord.

"Wow...thanks, buddy. I do try really hard to be a good mom every day..."

He stroked my hair, "You are, Mom."

It's time for Warrior Moms to rise up everywhere; out of the shadows of laundry mountains and dish piles, out of the guilt and frustration, out of brokenness. It's time for Warrior Moms to declare the promises of God over ourselves and our families. It's time to stop living in the fear of failure and start seeing ourselves as our children do. Warriors who fight for our families every day and SUCCEED.