Mothering is demanding. It is one of the most arduous, frightening, yet delightful vocations. Children differ, each carrying their own crosses to bear and joys to share. As mothers, we give completely. Exhausted, we recognize that we cannot fulfill this task alone, we find must trust Our Lord. We trust in life’s most demanding circumstances, not merely the catastrophic times where injury, illness, or tragedy strike, but in the reoccurring everyday trials. It is imperative that we rely on God and hope in Him when our daily crosses seem too much to bear.
A few weeks ago I was irked by my husband. Annoyed over a span of weeks, I prayed a deep, heartfelt prayer imploring the Lord to allow me to focus my gaze on my own ‘junk in the garage’ as I seemed to only be able to scrutinize my husband’s actions. That day that I called out to Our Lord was a doozy! My daughter was in rare form, hormonally unbalanced, much like the Tasmanian devil, unpredictable and taking out anything in her path.
I was already on edge from the tension with my husband. In a moment of weakness, I lashed out at her, unleashed the fury in my heart. Firing at her was absolutely the wrong thing to do and did not remedy the ill mood in our home. From not having had enough self-control to prevent that ugliness from spewing out my mouth, I felt remorseful, sorrowful, and sad. As a result, my eyes were opened to my faults and my shortcomings, exactly what I besought of the Lord earlier in the day. God was there to offer aid, to give me an opportunity to grow, if I would allow Him and trust Him.
‘Did I really need to fall so hard?’ I questioned. The answer was yes! Yes, I needed this moment to be poignant in order to be thrown to my knees, digging deep in conversation with my heavenly Father. Then, I reached out to a friend, one of my ‘tribe’, seeking prayers. She responded back with wisdom from St. Therese of Lisieux (87). ”On the way to Calvary, Jesus did indeed fall three times and you, poor little child, would like to be different from your spouse, would rather not fall a hundred times if necessary to prove your love to Him by getting back up with even more strength than before your fall!”, followed by these words, ”His grace is sufficient for you and You are His Beloved!!!” My insightful friend really hit the nail on the head.
We are going to fall again and again, but that makes us no less lovable and certainly not a failure. With God by our sides, we strive to develop hope and trust and work to persevere. Who doesn’t need His grace to do this mothering duty and this life thing?!? The place we should logically turn is to Our Lord. God assures us that we are loved even in our broken moments, even when we seem to fail and fall into sin. What a Divine inspiration and holy encouragement to rely on Our Heavenly Father and His graces and to get back up and attempt again! Our Lord does not expect that we will not blunder, we are human. However, on our path to holiness, God does urge us to get up and endeavor unceasingly to unite ourselves with Him and His suffering in our daily battles and struggles.
Maybe it’s one child who particularly tests your patience, or a friend who is extremely needy or demanding. It could be a little quirky thing your spouse does that causes your words to catch, a need for a deep breath, or a call for a prayer for patience each times he acts in a particular manner. It is in these everyday trials that we must turn to Our Lord and trust He has a plan laid for us. He allows these afflictions to shape us, stretch us, and grow us, but we must remind ourselves to regard them as tools for growth. We must discover prayers and methods of viewing situations that point our eyes toward our heavenly Father. He is the life breath we need amidst trials and crosses.
How do we do this? How do we trust? Vital first steps are to pray and to surround ourselves with friends of faith who are also working to trust and hope in Our Lord , ‘your tribe’ as Lisa Brenninkmeyer refers to them in her article “When Iron Sharpens Iron” (September 24, 2019, walkingwithpurpose.com). As a tribe, we lift each other up and prod or poke each other in our times of desolation or despair. We learn to rely on those people He places in our paths each day to support us and point us toward Heaven. We remind each other that the prize has not yet been had and that these seemingly overwhelming parts of our life are small victories won for Christ each day.
When we love instead of ignore, when we pray instead of rant, when we ask for prayers as our tears and frustrations overwhelm us and realize we cannot do this alone, it is then that we are learning to trust Our Lord.
As we attempt to settle some things in ourselves in order to be the mothers and wives we desire to be, I find having a specific prayer to turn to helpful. When I am overwhelmed by emotion and at a loss for words, one prayer I pray that lifts me heavenward is “A Prayer to St. Jude for Healing”, found in the 2019 Blessed Is She planner.
“Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, friend of Jesus, I place myself in your care at this difficult time. Pray for me; help me to remember that I need not face my troubles alone. Please join me in my need, asking God to fill me with the grace to accept whatever may lie ahead for me and my loved ones, and to strengthen my faith in God’s healing power. Thank you, St. Jude, for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe, and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me. Amen.”
A beautiful reminder of our need to not only trust and rely solely on Him, but also to pass on the encouragement and hope, asking for strength in our faith as we fight this battle on earth,.
So I encourage you to seek peace with all the rubbish. This is peace only God can bring when we open our hearts and ask. Elements of Prayer (Day 10, p.43) reminds us “Each time we pray we take our entire existence into our hands and present the whole of it to the Lord…our posture before Him says: ‘I and all that I have is yours. I give you the freedom to give me anything or to take away anything you may desire, to change or to rearrange anything in my life. I give myself to you unreservedly and unconditionally, I am yours.” This is an act of trust.
Prayer is trust, turning over our will to His and believing His plans and means to holiness is best and perfect. Lord, I rest in you. Your grace is sufficient for me!
Call to Act: Where is Our Lord stretching you? Where do you tend to fail again and again? Is there a person in your life who tests your limits and pushes you to your knees? How can you seek the Lord in these moments and trust in Him? Is there a quote from the Bible you can keep close to remind you to lean on Him and that He is always near? Take a few moments to reflect and journal. Ask Our Lord to show you the trends in your life and show you how to seek Him in these fallen moments. Beg him for growth in the virtue of trust.
St. Andrew, pray for us that we may be able to fully rely on our Lord and deeply speak the words, Lord, I trust in you. We seek the conviction to follow His path, saying yes with faithful trust, as you acted as you left your work casting nets into the sea to go out and seek men for Christ. Intercede for us, asking God to open our eyes to the ways we can trust Him and be near to Him each day. Amen.
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew is known as the first apostle of Christ. Along with his brother Simon Peter, he was called from his work as a fisherman to follow Christ. Trusting our Lord, they both left their nets immediately. Not much is said about Andrew in the Bible, though we do know He was a follower of John the Baptist and likely baptized by him. Andrew also made Jesus aware of the boy with the loaves and the fish and was present at the Last Supper. He is thought to have been close to Jesus. Believing himself to be unworthy to die as Christ, Andrew was crucified on a cross in the shape of an X, today known at “St. Andrew’s Cross”. He is the patron saint of fisherman, singers, and several countries. Learn more about him here.
Cherye says
Absolutely beautiful!