Finding The Answer: Encouragement For Moms

Encouragement For Busy Moms From A Missionary Mom
Finding The Answer

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23 NIV

Dust coats everything in the house. Objects cry out, “Help, we’re in a rut!” Clutter. Piles of unread mail. Stick-on notes scream of things undone. So many errands to run, so many jobs undone. Yet all she wanted to do was escape into a world where everything’s taken care of, where there’s order and peace – and sleep.

Just a few hours into the day and already stress had crept in like an unwanted mosquito buzzing round her head. Picking up a news magazine, she began reading the popular column that answers questions people ask about life. Many are about love and careers, but many more relate to life management and stress. She read the answers, but they didn’t add up. Pressure. Hassle. Worry. Tension. Stress. Anxiety. Is there an answer?

“Jesus is the answer!” read a big billboard announcing a meeting to be held in the city. The young mother looked at it and wondered if it was still true. Did Jesus know her questions about parenting, about management, about adjustments? “If He’s the answer, why am I missing out?” she thought. But that billboard never left her the entire day. She couldn’t help thinking what it would be like to get His answer to all her questions.

She entered her house and found it exactly the way she left it a couple of hours before. Clothes strewn here and there. Newspaper piles along with used cups and plates on the dining table. A puddle of milk on the floor thanks to her energetic and careless five year old. She looked at her watch. Two hours until she picked up her child from school. Checking what needed done, she paused and thought, “What if Jesus were here? What would He do?”

Without wasting more time, she went to the family room, and rummaged through the box of cassettes until she found one she loved. Soon sweet music filled the house. “That’s better,” she thought as she attacked the messes one at a time. In half an hour she had picked up and sorted clothes that were strewn everywhere and cleaned the table without getting frustrated. Now she was ready to dust everything and clean the messy floor. Humming along with the songs, she continued to move around the house and soon was ready to prepare lunch. The timer she set rang as she stepped out of the shower, clean and refreshed. The house was tidy, lunch was cooking and she even managed to shower and put on nice clothes.

Walking out of her house to get her daughter, she felt good about herself. Everyday she did the same things but today was different. Like a light that shone in the dark, it dawned on her – she had been reacting negatively to the things she had to do, but today she wondered what the Lord would do in her place – and then did it. She wanted to jump for joy! The Lord would have cleaned up, but He would have done it with a cheerful heart, a heart that’s grateful and sincere while serving others.

“Mummy, you look different today,” her daughter said as she ran from her classroom.

“Yes dear, I am different, because I found the answer.”

“Were you asking a question, Mummy?” the young girl wondered.

“Yes, and I got an answer from Jesus. He showed me that things may not change in my life. The things I need to do will always be there, but the way I do them and how I react to them can change with His help.”

“I don’t understand, Mummy,” said the child.

“You will someday, when you learn to ask Jesus what He would do if He were in your place.”

“You mean I can ask Him anything at all, Mummy? Will He answer?”

“Yes, He will answer my child, because He is the answer.”

It was a beautiful day. Mother and daughter sat and had one of the most peaceful lunches ever. It was delicious too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bameri Syiem and her husband Almond are church planters in Bagdogra, West Bengal, India. They have two young children, a daughter and a son. In addition to serving the Lord, she enjoys reading, and being a mom.