GRACE: (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings (definition)
honestly, we’re all surviving off it. When I was praying about 2017, the next thing that I felt like God wanted me to do I kept hearing the Holy Spirit tell me “Mom Grace” I dont know what it will look like, come out like or function like-but I do know that HE TOLD ME & I will respond. The past couple years God has given me so much GRACE to figure it out, figure out how to love so conditional, to figure out how to juggle what seems like a million things at once, to figure out dealing with 2 babies & still having my walk with God, figure out how to be a steady wife while still feeling like parts of me needed refining, to figure out how to lead a revival, or even broken women neededing help, to figure out how to express my love for God in only the way that I can etc. It’s what I feel like God keeps telling me “MOMGRACE” (or for those not a mother, just “grace”) -to embark on this crazy adventure, learning how to handle situations, keep them alive (reality lol), and function on no sleep but still feel energized. I would be a wreck without being able to call out to Jesus for help. He blesssed me with my children- so of course he is the one giving ME the GRACE to live this out everyday, you know motherhood.
So many times as women we feel judged because of the type of mom we are, the lack that we feel or the actions that we are taking-when in reality, we are all trying to survive this job of motherhood the best we know how leaning on Him for direction & answers.  Don’t you think that’s how God intended it to be?  Personally, I function off little kid chaos & lots of caffiene- but not everyone does. Some people like schedules (I talked about this in a previous post-so not me hahaa), they like routines and thats fine for THEM- not for ME. AND THATS OK! We are different people, living different lives, trying to deal with every situation the best we know how by the GRACE of God.Â
I saw this hilarious meme (I shared it on my Facebook) of people laughing histarically and the caption saying “when people without kids say “my kid will never do that” (hahaa). But seriously, remember being that person? I dO! I would tell everyone that my kid will never watch cartoons on my phone, my child will never leave the house in pjs, my child will never roll her eyes at me without getting puinished etc etc. lets just say, I was kinda crazy and had all these ideas of how I was going to be the perfect parent and judged so many moms who had “wild kids” or “took their kids out in pjs”. Well, lets just say reality slapped me in the face. Justice is wild, she has more energry than the energizer bunny (true story lol), she has a BIG no fear personaltiy and honestly, thats the complete opposite of me so its taken such a GRACE to keep up with her. When I pray for my kids I feel like God always tells me “fall in love with who they are”- not my crazy idea of how they should be, or what it should look like. If you are keeping up biblical standards, teaching your kids how to walk in holiness and sustain from things of this world, if they are seeing you pray and cry out to God- what else matters?
 I can now confidentally say that if I see a mother in a store with a crying toddler in Pj’s -I’m the first one to smile at her, instead of walk away complaning. Motherhood is hard- and once youre in it, you realize that there is a backstory behind every person. You never know what that person/parent is dealing with-the struggles, the pain, the exhaustion, the fear, or even feeling alone in it. A simple smile or nice gesture will send a louder message than the grunts or complaints. I’ve been there, where my child is crying hysterically for a small piece of candy 2 isles over, and you only came to the store because you ran out of milk, and your husband has been gone for like 10 days, and then the other child starts crying and you feel terrible and want to get into a hole (alone lol!) and just cry. I’ve been on the side of the eye rolls but i’ve also been on the side of the nice smile or offer to help.
I’m extremely hard on myself. I have so many things I want to accomplish and so many things I feel like I “need to do”, but I am also a full time mom/wife and honestly it’s really hard to accomplish even the smallest things somedays. My biggest prayer is “God help me..” Help me to figure it out, to keep everything going, to make time for others, to make quality time with God, to be loving and gentle etc. It drives me nuts that it takes me a week to publish a blog, I don’t make time everyday to write, some days the dishes don’t get done  and so on…you get the picture. But I KNOW the grace comes in when I say that I’m TRYING. Yes, I dont have it figured out and I’m taking this day by day…but I am constantly leaning on God and begging Him to help me. He has given me grace to try new things, learn how to handle the new seasons, to fail and feel down-but still get back up.
HISÂ GRACE EMPOWERS US TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE IN OUR EVERYDAY REALITY.
Try to think about all the situations that you face daily where you can phsycially feel the grace of God working. Maybe when you’re exhausted and want to just yell at your kids, and you feel the Holy Spirit whispering in your ear “breathe” and you pause. I call that “second chance grace” because God gave you that quick second to pause and change the direction of your emotions before hurt was created.” I’m sure just like me, if you really dig deep in your life you will be able to see the small moments of God given grace, amongst the HUGE areas. I will forever be thankful for the moments that HE SAVED ME & the moments He let me learn my lesson- while still protecting me. God is so good ya’ll. His grace & love, truly keep me alive.
-lys
lys&ladies 