great post - thanks! makes me also think of Galatians 4 - where there are ongoing, metaphorical pains of childbirth

I would like to share an insight on finding joy in drudgery.  On the long weekend the wife & I packed up our 2 year old and went on our first camping trip as a family.  On the wettest and windiest night we were away Josh threw up all over himself and his bedding at 1.30am.  Off through the howling wind and torrential rain I trudged to the laundry, where the lights didn’t work.

So up to my elbows rinsing sheets, teddy bear an PJs, in the middle of the night, in a dark caravan park laundry, during a storm, dripping wet myself, I was pondering Philippians 4:4 (as you do) where Paul says “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”  So I was thinking, how can I delight in Jesus in this situation?  Ah, by serving my wife and child that God has provided in a humble manner, and being content in this. 

So, happy with this little epiphany, I made my way back to the tent to be greeted by “While you were out he was sick again, this time on our bed”.  Righto, pass me the sheets and “once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”.

Thanks Nicole - great post.  I certainly identify both with the ‘eaten alive’ and the ‘blessing’ parts.  It’s such a paradox, but an everyday part of life that all at once, one of the the hardest parts of my life is also one of the best parts. 

Galatians 6:9 comes to mind “Let us not become weary of doing good”.  So does Colin Buchanan’s song “Press On, Mums”.

Thanks, Nicole, for sharing honestly from your experiences as a mum.  I’m sure you’ve described the experience of many!  As Bec so aptly puts it, raising children can be one the hardest as well as one of the best parts of our lives as parents.

Having said that, Ian, I will admit to being a mother who often felt relieved when holidays were over - and then felt guilty for feeling relieved!

Having now confessed, may I share three things that really helped me to gain a godly perspective on this emotional ambivalence:

1) spending time with Christian mothers who were a little further along the track than me.  I could see that there really was life after the stage my kids were in, and that I could relax and enjoy the present;

2) learning how my personality and life circumstances had a direct bearing on my experience of motherhood.  I love my children deeply, but as a profound introvert, I need time ALONE to recharge - soldiering on when my emotional resources are exhausted helps no-one.  From the time our kids were little, my husband has worked long hours and travelled extensively, and our extended family has lived a long way away, so I have had to accept the limitations of my situation, work around them and remember not to feel guilty when I desperately need some personal space;

and 3) most importantly, understanding my role as a mum, in the context of God’s plan.  I am so thankful to God for showing me how, over twenty years, he has been using my children to help me grow to become more like the Lord Jesus.  And as I have grown in him through the good times and the difficult, so I have been enabled to trust him more and more for my children’s futures.  (I heartily recommend “Sacred Parenting” by Gary L Thomas (Zondervan, 2004) which explores this concept.)

Nicole, keep raising the hard questions - it’s good to talk them over.