The Sampler – The Mom In Me

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5 Minutes for Mom brings you exclusive samplings from the best mom blogs in our weekly column, The Sampler, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom contributing editor Shera, from A Frog In My Soup.

As families are getting into the new fall/school groove and settling in from all of their summer activities, I’m excited for the fresh and insightful submissions I’ll be receiving for The Sampler. If you haven’t submitted for The Sampler yet and you are a mommy blogger, please be sure to hop over to our Sampler Guidelines page and follow them to write something for us to consider.

This week I was inspired to write to all of you. In case you don’t know me, my name is Shera and I’m the host of The Sampler. I’m the mom blogger behind A Frog In My Soup where you can often find encouragement, information and “Mommy Realities”. Occasionally you’ll find me at Faith Lifts, a ministry of 5 Minutes for Mom, where I mainly wear my administrator hat. I am blessed to serve with some truly amazing devotional writers to bless moms every day.

The Mom In Me

My oldest son will be 13 in a couple of months and sometimes I’m amazed that I survived to tell the tale! If I can just make it through the teenage years of my oldest son, I’ll feel fairly confident about the rest. Well, maybe until the twins get there anyway.

Life hasn’t always been what I expected; motherhood in particular did not exactly match what I had long dreamed in my mind. It was easy as a young girl to envision life as a mom. Believe it or not, I dreamed of having 6 children … NOT all boys mind you, but there were 6. I can’t remember if there was a set of twins among those 6 children in my mind (I honestly DON’T think so), but if there were I can guarantee you they did no wrong, were perfectly behaved and spoke softly to everyone who came near.

Enter reality! My two year old twins can’t seem to stop moving for more than ten seconds, feel it necessary to rip the pages out of almost any book they can get their hands on (a huge pet peeve of mine), think that everything is for climbing and that they are equal in size and ability with the bigger boys. My 5 year old thinks he’s bigger than my 9 year old (almost true) and thinks he should be in charge of the twins. My 9 year old thinks he’s the boss of everyone and likes to shout orders and my 10 year old, well, he thinks he’s funny … VERY funny, but he’s really not (poor thing). My almost-13-year old thinks that since he’s bigger than me he shouldn’t have to listen to me as much, thinks he’s basically an adult and suddenly seems to be having trouble making intelligent decisions (or did he ever?).

So, what does one do when faced with a challenge of gargantuan proportion? When a mom who already has four boys finds out that her surprise 5th pregnancy is twins? Go to God! It’s that simple! I almost passed out (I kid you not) on the ultrasound table when the technician showed me the two babies side by side, when I recovered I asked one simple question of God … “You seriously think we’re up for this?”

In all honesty, that is a statement that I continue to ask Him all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change our family for the world, I love each and every one of my boys, they are amazing. I know that He gave us these wonderful boys for a reason and we were entrusted as parents who could handle it, but sometimes I feel so much less than adequate! There were definitely times when I “only” had three children and felt overwhelmed, so I do know that it isn’t only a large family issue. Without being able to lean on Him and regularly “give back” each boy with their problems and needs, it would be easy for me to get caught up in only seeing the negative.

With the help of God, I continue to find creative and constructive ways to parent these children. I find all of the wonderful qualities each of them posess, even in the midst of the crazy boy behavior. By leaning on God, I learn how to be more like Him in parenting and interacting with my blessings. I’m learning to find the Mom in me more and more each year. He put it there, I just need to ask Him to reveal it to me each and every day!

~Written by Shera of A Frog in My Soup and Sweet ‘n Simple Design.

If you would like to be considered for The Sampler please review The Sampler Guidelines.

This column is Hosted by Shera. She can be found at A Frog In My Soup