Recently, I asked some of my Facebook friends this question.
The 1st word that pops into my head when I think of motherhood is:_______________________.
Some of the answers I received didn't surprise me at all....
Chaos
Adventure
Crazy
Love
There was one answer that made me stop to ponder.
Constant
The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines this short word as "happening all the time or very often over a period of time".
Any woman who has been mothering for any length of time (even 24 hours) can identify with this word.
A new baby needs frequent and regular feedings. A toddler needs continual supervision for his safety. A school-aged child needs answers to life's pressing questions at any given moment. A teen needs stable and firm guidance as she heads into adulthood.
A mom is always "on" and always available. Sometimes this even occurs when the mom is physically unavailable.
A couple of weeks ago, I had knee surgery. While it was a fairly simple procedure, it put me in bed for several days. Even when I finally ventured around the house on my crutches, I was often physically unable to help my kids in the normal ways. I was afraid to carry my toddler down the stairs while my knee was so weak. I couldn't kneel by the bathtub to rinse the soap out of my son's hair. I was dependent on meals prepared by others each evening.
This bodily break did not cause a hiatus in the constancy of motherhood, though. I still worried about the sibling squabbles I heard and awoke to the cries of my little one in the middle of the night. Even from the couch, I was mothering mentally.
If you are a mother, you are not disagreeing with me at this point. I'm sure you are nodding your head in agreement.
It was the alternate definition of this word that struck me, however.
"staying the same : not changing"
I wish I could say that I stay the same each day. I wish I could claim that my kids know exactly which version of Mommy they'll greet each morning. I wish I was unchanging in the face of daily stress and lack of sleep.
Motherhood is constant, but I am not constant in my mothering.
There is only one Person who truly and faithfully embodies this word, constant.
I, the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
Malachi 3:6
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
God is not human,that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
Numbers 23:19
My God isn't affected by emotion or exhaustion. He never wavers and never changes. It is His very immutable nature that brought about our desperately needed redemption. He didn't change His standard of required perfection and He didn't go back on His word to provide a Lamb to meet those demands.
This is such good news when I lose my temper over something insignificant once again or when my living room resembles a disaster zone. In my weakest, most inconsistent moments, I'm still qualified to receive the inheritance of the saints not through my own stability, but Christ's!
Because of the constant demands of motherhood, I desperately need a constant God. My only hope for consistency is found in Him!
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8