Mama, you’re meant to thrive, not survive Mommyhood.
I love all the talk about Supernatural Childbirth circulating these days and the way this conversation is transforming birth stories around the world! Through Jesus, we can now enjoy childbirth as the extravagant love gift that God originally intended it to be in the Garden! For more on this, check out “What REALLY happened at the fall regarding childbearing”and my Online Kingdom Birth Class
But today, I want to talk about Supernatural Motherhood! Because I believe this is equally available to us! We’re not just redeemed from the toil of labor & birth, but from the added toil and anxiety to parenting. Halleluiah!
I recently learned that many Messianic Jews who read and speak Paleo-Hebrew believe that the consequences of the fall pertain more to raising children than birthing children.
The Hebrew word used in Genesis 3:16 is “Yalad” which can mean to birth a child, but also means to “have a child.” It’s used throughout the Bible for men and women, so it obviously doesn’t just mean to physically give birth. For example, “Adam “begat” Seth and Seth “begat” Enos, etc. It’s also used to describe God fathering us as His children (Deuteronomy 32:18).
So the Scripture can definitely be interpreted to mean that sorrow, anxiety, and toil were added to both the work of birthing children and raising children. That parenting was now going to be harder.
That makes sense to me because let’s face it, for a lot of us, giving birth was a breeze compared to the exhaustion, work, and anxiety of parenting these precious little ones.
I personally loved giving birth to my two boys – those were two of the best days of my life! Yes, they were full of hard work and struggle, but also so filled with the presence of God, joy, and captivating wonder.
But then came the real work and toil – PARENTING!
Do any of these sound familiar?
Exhaustion. More sleepless nights than I knew were possible. Neither of my babies were great sleepers and as a result, I’ve gotten about 10 uninterrupted nights of sleep in the past 3 years. AHHHHH! Isn’t this a form of torture somewhere?
Anxieties. Are they still breathing? Are they getting enough milk? Am I damaging them if I let them cry it out at night? Am I damaging them if I don’t let them cry it out and learn to fall asleep on their own? Should we vaccinate or not? Sleep on their tummy (which they prefer) or force the back? And I’m sure your list goes on and on like mine.
Frustrations. Will I ever be able to keep my house clean again? Will I ever get to actually sit and eat my dinner again? I didn’t even know it was possible for a 3-month-old to scream for 2 hours straight! Could my nerves be anymore frayed? Is this what the verge of a breakdown feels like? Can I just have 10 minutes to myself to take a shower? Or even 2 minutes to pee in peace? Can you relate?
Health Issues – Nipple pain, engorgement, mastitis, bladder prolapse, and Diastasis recti are a few of the things my body’s been through these past couple years after having children. And you probably have your own list.
But the Lord has been challenging me and speaking to me about all of this lately. Because this doesn’t have to be my reality. Supernatural Motherhood, Redeemed Motherhood, is just as available to me as Supernatural Childbirth. And in many ways, I need this more. Because while giving birth happens in a day, motherhood is my life now.
The good news is that Jesus came to set us free from anxiety, sickness, a heavy yoke, and toil in all areas of life – including Motherhood!
He came to restore God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven and to restore things back to God’s original design. So that means parenting restored to the joyful gift He created it to be! Work without toil and anxiety; work that comes from a place of joy and fellowship with Him.
It’s still work. Mothering little ones is definitely a full-time job. But it’s work we can thrive in and enjoy with Him. We don’t have to merely survive.
So how do we get there? How do we see this become our reality? I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts! But I’ll start the conversation with a few of mine:
1. Let’s ask for God’s supernatural intervention!
Sometimes I think we forget to ask and we just accept the hardships of motherhood as “normal.” But I’m starting to ask and believe for Heaven’s intervention! For what Jesus paid for!
Last week we prayed for the angles and Holy Spirit to supernaturally teach our 1-year-old to sleep through the night. No sleep training method seemed to work for him and he was waking every 2 hours and would scream for 2 hours if I didn’t nurse him. And sure enough, the first night we really prayed and surrendered the whole thing to Jesus, Luke slept 5-6 hour stretches! And 2 nights later, he slept 10 hours straight! Man, I wish I had asked for supernatural intervention earlier!
2. Let’s drop the anxiety and ask God for HIS perspective on situations.
Anxiety entered the work of parenting after the fall. It’s not meant to be part of this journey for you. Jesus isn’t worried about our kids and we don’t need to be either. But we have to see as he sees!
I find it interesting that after the fall, Adam says to God “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:10).
He was afraid because he was naked. But that was really nothing to be afraid of. He was naked before the fall and there was no problem or fear. But suddenly his perception had changed and he saw things differently and now he was fearful about something that he never needed to fear.
As a mom, I know I do this too. I spend much time worrying about things that God never intended for me to worry about for my kids. But I’m learning to ask to see situations from his perspective so that I see clearly once again. No problem seems big from his perspective and the more I see as he does, the more I live free from worry.
(Click here for another of my favorite ways to get free from worry!)
3. Let’s parent in fellowship with God!
One of the reasons Adam and Eve started to find sorrow, anxiety and toil in their work is that they were separated from their perfect fellowship with God. As they separated from Him, they began to toil independently in their “work.”
Any work we do outside of fellowship with Him is going to much harder than necessary and filled with unnecessary worry and strife.
I’m learning to come back to that place of fellowship with Jesus where I walk through my day with him as I mother my kids.
It can be easy to forget about Him during my day to day tasks and to turn to “google” or other mom friends for the answers to my parenting struggles. I’m thankful for google and for moms who have walked this journey ahead of me, but the person I need most is Jesus! He knows my kids better than anyone else and He’s a GENIUS at parenting.
I’m learning that as I parent WITH Him throughout the day, the ease of this work is restored☺.
Jesus paid the price for my work of motherhood to be restored to that original place of joy, rest, and fellowship with Him. And I don’t know about you, but I want what He paid for!
I long for the ease and beauty of my journey as a mom to be such a reflection of the goodness of God and his beautiful heart and intent for us as moms.
So I’m not settling anymore. I’m not resigning myself to the fact that “raising toddlers and babies is just really hard.” That feeling like I’m about to have a breakdown from exhaustion is just par for the course. That worrying about different health or behavior issues in my kids is just part of being a mom.
I’m saying “No!” I’m praying for God’s Kingdom, His original intent in the garden, and the supernatural to invade our home and my work as a mom. I’m praying for His ease and rest to be restored to this work of parenting.
And I’m praying the same for you! May Supernatural, Redeemed Mothering become more and more of your reality!
I’d love for you to join the conversation and share your thoughts and stories of how God is redeeming your journey of motherhood!
Honored to journey with you,
Kierra