Mummy makes the world go round!!

I woke up this morning and thought about how challenging and rewarding it is to be a mother.

As a mother of five children every day I get to experience the high highs and low lows of motherhood, sometimes I love it, other times not so much!

It was never one of my dreams to have a big family, actually my plan was not to have children I thought my life would be one which was carefree, however God had other plans for me and I'm so grateful he did.  Being a mother is not easy, it is not stress free and more often than not mistakes are made but it is by far one of the most inspiring jobs in the world!

Last week I got a call from Cassandra a good friend of mine who wanted to know how I did it!
'How I did what?' I thought. 
How do you manage to do all you do with so many children? 
Great question!!

If you are a mother reading this I want to hopefully encourage you with the same words I used to encourage Cass.  In a nutshell my answer was threefold...

1. By the grace of God

I could not do what I do without God's help.  Like I said I had no intention of being a mother of five so I had no perfect plan but God did.  He will never give us more than we can bear.  Motherhood can be so overwhelming at times, with school runs, packed lunches, lost shoes, can't find the book bags, homework, after school clubs, cooking dinner, getting them to eat the dinner, bath, reading books and bedtime....it's enough to drive even the most sane amoung us over the edge.  BUT GOD!!!

2. Don't be too hard on yourself

You won't always get it right.  By all means draw up an ideal daily schedule and stick to it as closely as you possibly can but don't be hard on yourself if you miss the mark.  Motherhood is not just about doing, which is where we spend most of our time and energy, its about BEING.  Are you being KIND, are you being LOVING, are you being CONSISTENT are you being PATIENT? 

We must spend as much  (if not more) time on BEING the best mother we can and cut yourself some slack if things don't always go as planned.  Also don't expect yourself to do things in the same way and at the same pace as you did before you had children and to add to that don't expect to move at the same pace after you've had the third, fourth and fifth child!! (that's if you have as many as I do :-))

3. You are doing a GREAT job!

So many mothers fail to hear these words but you are, YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB!  If you were not the best person for that job you would not have been blessed with that child or those children.  We can always improve and I encourage you to embark upon or continue on the journey of self development both you and your children will benefit.  But along the way remember you are doing a great job. 

I told Cass that as long as we focus on the fundamentals, the things that are really important to us concerning raising amazing children, as long as we continually focus on doing our best, God will honour our efforts and He will do the rest.

It is you MUMMY who makes this world go round, so keep it moving!!

Until next time,

Be the best and if you enjoyed this blog share with a friend and leave a comment!

Karen. xx

11.11.11 - The worst of times, the best of times!

I did some research into the meaning of the number ELEVEN (11)  I wanted to find out if it was significant in anyway.  To be honest with you what I discovered did not encourage me initially until I delved deeper and uncovered something very powerful about the number ELEVEN (11).

The number ELEVEN (11) in Biblical terms marks, disorder, disorganization, disintegration and imperfection.

In many ways not good at first glance HOWEVER the great thing about this discovery is that hidden within the very essence of these words which each have negative descriptions and connotations, is a word that means the exact opposite.  If the words are taken at face value then hope could easily be replaced by despair, confidence overshadowed by dismay and faith could be erased by doubt.

But within the very words themselves is a ray of sunshine, a silver lining, a glimmer of hope!!

I liken my discovery to life itself. 

Sometimes on the surface things may appear as though all hope is lost.  For the past few years the economy has taken a downturn and for many people the effects have been devastating. Homes have been repossessed, relationships have broken down and families have been destroyed. 

Many people have lost their jobs, their businesses and their livelihood due to this on going recession that seems to be no respector of persons.

For many, many people these are dark times.

I think it was Franklin D Roosevelt who said, concerning the great depression 'It was the best of times and it was the worst of times'.  A powerful statement, but what does it mean?  In my interpretation it simply means that 'the times', whatever you may be experiencing, is what YOU make it.  This could be the BEST time of your life or the WORST.  You get to choose!!

Now you may disagree with me and that's fine however, what I am confident of is the fact that no-one or no-thing has the power to make or break you unless you give them permission to do so.  You may do so consciously or subconsciously but the power is first yours and YOU get to decide what to do with it.

Today is the 11.11.11 and on the surface you may be going through what appears to be the WORST of times.  You may have been affected tragically by this economic downturn or it may be some other personal challenge that you are faced with. I want to encourage you to take a moment and dig deeper, look further into your situation and see what you find.

There is ALWAYS a ray of sunshine, there is ALWAYS a silver lining, there is ALWAYS a glimmer of hope.

Going back to my research into the Biblical meaning if the number ELEVEN (11) at first glance what I found was disorder, disorganization, disintegration and imperfection but as I dug deeper and looked further what I discovered was in the midst of these words were ORDER, ORGANIZATION, INTEGRATION and PERFECTION!

I believe that regardless how good or bad this year has been for you thus far (and for me it has been one of THE most challenging to date!!)  today, the 11.11.11 can be the first day of the BEST years of your life.

Be encouraged and be the best!!

If you enjoyed reading this post, please read others that I have written, make a comment below and forward to a friend!!

Until next time,

Karen