Don’t Judge Me

Café Menu for Wednesday May 28, 2014

Today’s Special is: I Earned This Spit-Up Stain

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Hannah Walker

Main Ingredient:

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.

- Isaiah 66:13 NIV

Entrée:

I became pregnant with my first child when my husband and I were still in Bible college. I was allowed to have my five week old baby come to my graduation. I was so young, just trying to survive being a new mother. My first child, Sophia, was a spit-up baby and Sundays seemed particularly eventful. No matter how cute I dressed her, by the time we arrived at church she would have to be changed. She baptized every dress we owned and (of course) it left that yellow, impossible to get out stain. To everyone at church, it looked like I only knew how to dress her in a onesie.

The spit-up and blow-outs didn’t bother me; they were a part of life with a baby. It’s normal, right? Our church was full of people from the nearby seminary. All of the women there were pastor’s wives in training. They were prim, proper and cold to anyone who didn’t have it altogether. They never said anything negative to me but they would never say anything to me. They would just look at me with pitying glances and appalled stares. I would leave church completely deflated every Sunday.

It wasn’t until we moved away and visited that church a year later that they actually talked to me. By that time, they finally started having babies of their own. Funny how our conversations turned to, “I don’t know how you did it... What do you do when...” There was something so gratifying that they finally understood what I was going through.

Motherhood can be the most wonderful, yet the hardest and loneliest job a woman will ever have. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or simply misunderstood by friends without babies (or moms with easy babies), it’s easy for the loneliness to become overwhelming. Isaiah 66:13 is such precious encouragement for mothers. We are constantly comforting our children; for boo-boos, hunger, fear and a thousand other reasons. Just like we provide comfort to our children, so God comforts us. And just like we’re always providing comfort, He’s always there ready to provide it for us. All we need to do is let Him. When people judge, when we’re lonely, when we’re feeling like failures, God is always there. Run to Him! Let Him hold you in His loving arms!

Take Out:

How to Survive Being a Mom:

· Search for comfort from God. People will fail you whether they mean to or not; they’re simply not perfect like God. He is always there ready to provide comfort.

· Don’t judge. No one likes to be judged, so don’t do it yourself. Don’t compare yourself to other moms. Either you will see yourself as less-than and become defeated or you will see yourself as better and become proud.

· Don’t be a martyr. Sure you can do it alone but you don’t have to do it alone. Get friends and family to help you. Sometimes just a trip to the grocery store alone can make all the difference in the world.

·Be a source of encouragement to other mothers. When you encourage others, you end up encouraging yourself.

Dessert:

Dear Lord, keep our eyes focused on You instead of those around us. Let us not be discouraged by those who seem to have it altogether and keep us from being proud by thinking we have this motherhood thing down. Help us turn to You for comfort. Help us to feel Your loving arms holding us when we feel alone. Thank You for loving us. Amen.

© 2014 by Hannah Walker. All rights reserved.

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