Wherever you are in your “mothering,” may you find rest, strength, comfort, wisdom… or even a swift kick in the seat of the pants as you spend time in God’s Word. May you, dear sister, lean into God and His Word as you carry out your kingdom building work of shepherding the young image bearers you call “children.”
Exhausted Mom
Matthew 11:28–29 –
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Isaiah 40:30–31 –
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 4:8 –
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Overwhelmed Mom
James 1:2–4 –
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Galatians 6:9 –
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Psalm 28:7 –
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
Deuteronomy 31:8 –
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Weary Mom
2 Corinthians 12:9–10 –
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Galatians 6:9 –
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Philippians 4:4–7 –
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:13 –
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Hebrews 6:10 –
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Psalm 63:1 –
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Timothy 1:7 –
[F]or God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Doubtful Mom
Psalm 68:19 –
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.
Proverbs 3:5-6 –
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Isaiah 26:3-4 –
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
Romans 8:28-29 –
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Matthew 6:34 –
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:26-27 –
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Anxious Mom
Psalm 27:14 –
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 37:7a –
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
Psalm 46:10 –
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalm 62:5–6 –
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Hebrews 4:16 –
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 Peter 5:6-7 –
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Distraught Mom
Psalm 34:18 –
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 119:77 –
Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
Isaiah 40:11 –
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah 66:13 –
As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 –
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Exasperated Mom
Proverbs 15:1 –
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Colossians 4:6 –
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Ephesians 4:29 –
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Psalm 32:8 –
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Ephesians 4:1-2 –
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Distracted Mom
Psalm 127:3-4 –
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.
Romans 8:28-29 –
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
James 1:20 –
[F]or the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Psalm 19:14 –
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Luke 10:41-42 –
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Proverbs 31:28 –
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
Proverbs 22:6 –
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Philippians 2:14-16 –
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Psalm 139:1-2 –
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
Psalm 139:23-24 –
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Ephesians 4:15–16 –
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Colossians 3:12-14 –
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
www.deborahhaddix.com. Used by permission.