10 things that help me to feel good as a Mum

A friend once asked me what makes me feel good as a Mum. Here are 10 of the things on my personal list.

1. Meditating on God's word and learning to rest in His favour, promises, and guidance. I am refreshed and uplifted as I focus on what God says. This evening as I meditated on Ps. 46 God spoke to my heart about the upcoming birth and early days of parenting two children. My heart was encouraged as I believed that "we will not fear" because God is with us! At the moment I tend to meditate on small segments of Scripture rather than following a plan and reading large chunks. 

2. Being thankful for the abundance God has provided, and for the people in my life. The Revive Our Hearts ministry has a wonderful 30 day challenge that helped me grow in this area. I also recommend the husband encouragement challenge that made me enormously thankful for my husband! You can find these challenges here.

3. Making time to sit down and do something other than housework. I stop housework during Elnathan's morning room time and afternoon nap, and at 8pm in the evening. As we all know, housework never ends! I need time boundaries that make sure it does not take over every waking moment. This is a physical need in my case, due to chronic pain, but it also gives me special times to look forward to each day.

4. Pursuing peace in relationships. It is easy to become involved in pointless conflicts that sap our emotional energy and our time, distracting us from building God's kingdom. Minding our own business is one way we have found to avoid this. This is as important online as in "real life". There are many blogs that focus on conflicts or faults in particular people. I avoid these, particularly writers with razor keyboards.

5. Learning, particularly about topics that are not directly related to the day-to-day running of the household. Learning about diverse subjects will be of benefit to our family as we plan to home school. This year I have loved making progress with learning Zulu and teaching some words to our son. I set aside 10 - 15 minutes a day, and have been surprised at how much it is possible to learn with this small time commitment.

6. Having projects that can be completed. Reading books and completing quilts, scrapbook pages and educational aids all fit into this category.

7. Maintaining our home as a place of order, beauty , education and ministry. I am here most of the time, and it is important for my sense of well being that my home reflects God's beauty. Having pictures on the wall and places for most things is a wonderful help. I love knowing that my home is not just a physical place, it is also a place God can use to build His kingdom and reflect the things that are dear to His heart.

8. Feeding my family. This is a lot of work but it is also satisfying when I can put a yummy and nutritious meal or snack on the table. Lately I have loved giving Natey green smoothies. The process of growing food also gives me joy. There is nothing like being outside in the sun with your hands in the soil.

9. Discovering ministry opportunities that are within my capabilities and are appropriate for my season of life. I have written about some of these here. It is especially encouraging when I can include Elnathan in ministry opportunities.

10. Being content with what I am capable of doing in a day. Much of my frustration comes when I try to complete tasks that God has not given me the time or energy to complete! Often I have to be content with completing the most basic things, and the cobwebs have to wait. My days are happier when I choose contentment. Right now (5 days overdue and very sore) I am unable to do much except sit or lie down, and getting upset about that is of no use!

What about you? I'd love to hear from others about what lifts your spirits and helps you to live joyfully!