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My mom has a great story about her name. You see, my grandad is retired Navy and very proud of it. His time in the Navy is guaranteed to be mentioned in any conversation with him! He decided that if my mom was born on July 4th, her name would be Independence and be called “Penny” for short. I think it has a nice ring to it, but my mom is thankful she was born a day earlier and named Ashlynn instead.

Being a new mother, I think about moms a lot. I have three beautiful ones; biological, step, and in-law – Plus a grandma who I’m very close to, so make that four! I also have some amazing mom friends. I truly cannot help but to sit and think about all you moms out there – How hard you all are trying (and succeeding) for your family, how well’ you’re doing, and how many of you may be working if you’re actually doing enough (hint: you are).

Pretty early in my pregnancy, I was starting to worry over our daughter and our little family. How well am I going to be able to manage her and work? Knowing that God is still working on my patience with me, how patient of a mother will I be? How will we handle disciplining her when she gets older? Will we be able to afford the extra-circulars she’s bound to be interested in? What will those be, by the way? How will this new life affect our marriage?

My confidence as a mother was already starting to shake and our sweet girl hadn’t even made it into the world yet!

Then my mom gifted me with one of the best books I have ever read, The Confident Mom by Joyce Meyer. It was a perfect reminder that I didn’t only need to have confidence in myself to be a good mother and a good wife, I need to first have confidence in God that He has lead me into both of these roles and that He has equipped me with everything that I need to handle them.

This book spoke a lot of life into me as a mother-to-be so I wanted to share some of my biggest takeaways in hopes that you will find some encouragement where you need it on this Monday.

MY TAKEAWAYS

• It’s time for us to get rid of the “perfect mom” illusion that we have been led to idealize. Ya know, the one that gets up bright and early every morning with a smile to work out in matching gym clothes then proceeds to pack everyone’s organic lunch while she herself drinks her kale protein shake and cleans the entire house, still making it to work early. It’s time we stopped paying attention to her and started paying attention to the women of scripture that God chose to be mothers.

• Accept that there will be difficult times, but trust that God will handle them – Even when those times come from messes that we’ve made ourselves.

• The best thing we can do for our families is to spend time with the Lord daily.

• Do not be afraid to ask for help! God did not intend for us to handle EVERYTHING and trying to do so will only wear us down physically and mentally. As my girl Jenna Kutcher would say, “Busy is not a badge of honor”!

• Receive the grace that Jesus died to give you! Do not carry guilt around and worry that your mistakes will ruin your child’s life. They won’t.

How refreshing is it to be reminded of all of that? Whether you’re in your first trimester or third, your children are toddling or starting college, this is a wonderful reminder that our confidence does not come from ourselves, but from God. With Him, we do not have to worry about our children, our motherly or wifely skills – We can simply rest and enjoy each of these roles that we have been called into. We can all be confident moms!

I would be thrilled to write a full report on this book, but I want to encourage you to read it for yourself! Find it on Amazon here and if you’re interested in learning more about the author, Joyce Meyer, use the link below to peruse her website. You won’t regret it!

Happy Monday to you, momma!