Encouragement

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."  Hebrews 3:13

 When my daughter was about a month old, I joined a moms' group. At the time, I didn't want to join the group. The thought of getting a one month old up and ready in the morning sounded draining and impossible.  A woman I had met in my birthing class called me about a week before the first meeting of the moms' group. I was sitting in the nursery struggling to nurse my baby girl when the phone rang. I let it ring and go to voicemail.

I don't have time to talk right now...

There's something about being a new mom and feeling so alone. The world around you has become very unfamiliar and every fear you could imagine, regarding motherhood, just wells up within you. As I listened to the voicemail, I heard the voice I had been yearning to hear for quite some time.  It was of another new mom, just like me, looking for a listening ear and hoping to hear a voice of encouragement saying, "it will be okay..."

Joining that moms' group was one of the best decisions I ever made. I will never forget the support and love I felt during that time. I will also never forget how heart broken I was when life went on and the other moms in the group returned to work.  We did our best to meet at least once a month during the first year of our little ones lives. Nothing will ever compare though, to those first weeks together.

As a mom and as a woman, I have learned over the years how important and valuable it is to have encouragement and support from one another. Recently, the woman who ran our mom's group began a group on Facebook. She invited many of the moms she had encountered over the years to join. I think the group has grown to over one hundred members! Here moms can post any questions or concerns without the fear of being judged.  The most common questions... "Will things get any easier? and "Has anyone else had this happen?"  Many of the responses are usually YES!  Three letters that make all the difference.

I am now 13 months into this gift called motherhood. Would I say that things have gotten easier? Yes, and No... I think if anything, time allows us to adjust and learn. BUT with every new moment and breath of our child's life, there are new challenges and new joys. It is the encouragement we receive from each other that makes things easier.

I've met a lot of new moms in this past year. Some will tell me that everything is going great and they haven't faced any issues since their baby has been born. For them, I pray that one day they can feel comfortable to confide in someone and get the support they need. Some moms tell me life is tough but the love they feel for their little one only grows each day. For them, I pray the same prayer. Some moms make it look easy and some moms you look at their worn faces and want to wrap your arms around them! I've learned we are all running the same race and in the end we all need strength, we all need rest, and we all need encouragement to keep at it.  This is the one race where we were all predetermined winners, from the moment we met the loving gaze of our first child.