Hi ladies! Thanks again to everyone joining in on this discussion of Sally Clarkson’s Seasons of a Mother’s Heart – I am blessed by your insights and honesty!
This week, I’m keeping it short and sweet – it has been a long week and now my parents are here, so we’re enjoying some relaxing time with them!
But I couldn’t let this week go by without sharing the quote that brought some conviction and a lot of prayer into my week…
“I burned out, not because God was asking more of me than I could do, but because I was asking more of me than I could do. As a wiser woman now, I know that God’s goal for me is that I build a good house, not the best one. After all, if I become spiritually exhausted because I try to build more than God expects of me, then I soon won’t be building at all.”
Exhaustion is a familiar feeling to me lately, but maybe it’s not just about being pregnant. Maybe it’s about my own expectations.
For a while, I’ve felt the tug to not do everything – to step back from leadership, to back away from this or that responsibility outside of my home. But I can also try to do much without ever leaving my home.
I don’t have any answers about what needs to be cut in my life or in what areas of my life I am expecting too much of myself – I’m just thinking about it, praying about it and wondering your thoughts on this quote.
What do you think about self-expectations? Are you too hard on yourself? Is this preventing you from building your house? Join the discussion in the comments or link up your own post!
I'm Erin, a wife, boy mom x 3, writer, and runner in Nebraska! I'm excited to share all my favorites relating to faith, family, fashion, and fitness in this space! Enjoy! 
Wow! That’s a powerful quote & SO true! Definitely got me thinking this morning! Hope you have a wonderful time w/ your parents!
This year… I am feeling a sense of calmness about homeschooling. I haven’t stressed about it because I realized last year that my kids will learn at their own pace…not the pace of others and where society says they should be. For some reason as soon as I released this feeling of we have to get XYZ covered or else feeling…I feel I am lot more calmer during school and during the day. We are all enjoying the learning process a lot more because of this. If I am having a good day…my kids usually are too. I have also turned all e-mail alarms and computers off during the morning while we are doing school…this has helped me be a little more focused on my kids because I am not stopping every two seconds to check my e-mail or give my attention to someone else.
I just got the book last week and am not as far as you all are. However, I am loving it and discovering a lot about myself and the expectations I am putting on myself. I can relate to a lot she is saying in this book. Yes, I do put too much pressure on myself. My husband will even tell me I am doing to much and to try to relax a little more. I feel like I should be doing more as a mom, homeschool mom, homeschool leader and so on. I am learning to say no and it is helping some. I just need to put my focus more on God instead of everyone else. Thank you for doing this study!!
I think we all probably place too many expectations our ourselves. I know I do. One of my goals this week is to be more patient. Take it easy and remember that our families are more important than “everything else” that stuff can wait. I started realizing that those things I want to participate in will be there another day. But those little memories we make with our kids or spouses will not. If we let them pass we may not get them back.
I hope your visit with your parent went well.
I’ve definitely been too hard on all of us and expected way too much of most of us (and not enough of some of us). We’re in a season where we have to decide on a direction for ourselves and for our children. I can tell there’s a lot of prayer going into that as we try to figure out what to do.