Becky Crenshaw

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.   And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

Can I ask you a question?

You don’t have to answer out loud.

Have you reached your breaking point this summer with your kids?

Even just once?

Well, I have.  More than just once.

I write this post fully vulnerable, but fully confident that I am not the only mom who has had a “help-me-Jesus” moment the past 60 days.

Summer has been parenthood on ‘roids for me.  Every sunrise, six little eyes stare me down with the “What are we going to do today?”  glare.

And if I didn’t have a response, they found plenty to do.  Like fight. Or turn our house on its head. Or complain about how there is “nothing to do.”  So this not-very-creative-mom has sucked Pinterest dry, trying to find fun activities for my kids.

But even still, parenting is hard work.  And I will be the first to admit today that my kids can drive me nuts.  Completely nuts.  I love them.  You know I do.  But love them or not, those little rascals can make me feel like a fruit loop.

Anybody else?  Show of hands?

But there are Three Summertime Survival Tips for the mom who feels she might come to pieces before school starts back.

Nothing earth shattering here.  Just three reminders for you sweet mama (and dad, too).  As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, these three tips are my “ways out so I can endure”.  I hope they help you, too.

1.  Ear buds and praise music.  Oh mama, plug up your ears and turn it up loud.  When the bonus room is getting rowdy or you hear a fight begin to brew, plug-in to your source of peace.  Loud worship. Close your eyes and drown out the noise.  This is not negligence, it is a necessity.  Worship is my reset button.  I need my focus off of my frustration and onto the Father.  Just for a song.  He is glorious.  And my peace is found in Him.  I need to stand in His presence before I go upstairs and stand in theirs.  I can’t help my kids find peace if I don’t have it myself.  So, ear buds. Check.

2.  Open your concordance.  We don’t have to be Bible scholars to study God’s Word.  When I am in a parenting pickle, and just need a quick word of encouragement, I flip to the back of my Bible and do a word search.  Recently, I have searched words like… Patience.  Help. Love. Peace…  Just to name a few (see a pattern?).  The Lord always gives me a nugget to gnaw on all day long.  Sometimes I jot it down on a 3×5 and keep it near me.  So, concordance. Check.

3.  Prayer:  Call in your prayer troops and don’t think for one second that you are alone in your summertime frustrations.  It is a myth that all the other moms are having quiet tea parties while you are sending kids to their rooms.

I sent this text just the other day…

Yep.  That was me Sunday morning.  The day after Saturday.   That rainy Saturday when my boys fought and complained and fought some more.  I yelled, they yelled and it was ugly, ugly, ugly.  It was a day that would drive a mama either to Jack Daniels or Jesus. Or both.

I sent out a cry for help.  I needed some intercessory prayer because I felt like I was losing the war.  But here’s the fun part… we win!  Through Christ, we win.  Through prayer, we win! WE WIN. WE WIN. WE WIN.

So, prayer. Check.

Feeling a little naked in my confessions today.  I really want you to think I’ve got my act together over here.  But I don’t.  And I am so thankful, really.  Because if I was a good mom, I wouldn’t need God’s grace.  And I would be missing out.  Because His Grace is amazing.

Great name for a song.  Amazing Grace.

OK…  Go on.  Grab your ear buds, your Bible and a prayer buddy.  And enjoy your summer….messy and all.

You can do this.