TWR: Tied Feet — Amanda Conquers

Welcome to The Waiting Room once again, friends! In case you missed the previous posts in the series, here they are:

Today's post will again touch on motherhood, but I have a feeling it applies to other "waiting rooms" too. :)

...................................................................

A few months ago, I read a post that talked about an Indian proverb: “Children tie the feet of their mother.”

It doesn’t take long for a new mother to realize the truth in this matter. Take, for example, vacuuming: I pick up the room, put away toys. While I am putting away toys, Jed is dragging out more toys. I am now faced with a daunting decision: do I stop him from pulling out more toys so I have less physical work, or do I let him play with the toys so he is contented while I clean even though it means more work for me?? (I usually just let him play.) As soon as the room is picked up, I pull out the vacuum. The kids are immediately excited (I am not sure why, but the vacuum has some kind of magical hold over them). Addy tells me that it’s her turn and she’s going to be my helper before I have even gotten the plug into the wall. Jed plops down right in front of the vacuum and starts an experiment to see how loud of a noise his hand can make on the front of the vacuum… I haven’t even started vacuuming, but I have a feeling you can already see that my figurative feet are tied, slowed down.

Often when we find ourselves in a season of waiting, it’s because our lives are tied up in something, busy. I have talked about capacity before; its definition basically boils down to your God-appointed maximum amount that you can take on. The more weight something has in your life, the less room there is for other things. You might like to do some of the things you are deeply passionate about, but perhaps you have small children that keep you from being able to do very much at all. “Children tie the feet of their mother.”

In the post I had read about children tying the feet, the writer talks about sacrifice. How, in fact, Jesus was bound. I am learning to serve my children, to sacrifice, to love them as Jesus has loved me.

But I think it’s more than learning sacrifice. I think of people who have had to live life missing one of their 5 senses, how the other senses get stronger to compensate for the missing sense. I think of how I had heard of a quadriplegic who learned to paint with his mouth and got quite good at it. Perhaps it is that in this waiting season, this too-busy-for-your-other-dreams moment, this feet-tied life with infants, you are learning to use your other muscles.

I have always stunk at organization, but with 2 littles and a desire to write, I don’t have a choice other than to learn organization. I have always been a bit socially awkward and not the best keeper-upper of friendships, but I desperately need support in this season of my life. I am learning to be friendlier and a better friend. (Tangent: Can you picture how much a mom would need other people to lean on if her feet are in fact tied?? Make time for friends dear mommy-readers!)

And here is the best part: in having our hands and feet tied, in busyness, we are forced to trust God. Like the disabled person that learns to use other muscles or other senses, we learn to trust God. We find our Strength.

When we are busy, we feel weighted down. We worry we won’t accomplish all we need to, and that it won’t be done with excellence. Deep down in this mother heart, I worry, oh how I worry, that I will fail my children, fail God, just completely and utterly suck at it all. I am finding that it’s not really a question of how much do I love my kids, or how much am I willing to lay down my life for them. I love them!I am here in this waiting season attempting to reconcile my heart to reflect what God wants me to do here and now, and only here and now, because I do love them and would do anything for them. So, "will I sacrifice?" is not the question. The question is, "How do I trust that God is with me, that God will see me through this, that I can’t do it all but He can??? That I won’t fail miserably at parenting and never see my dreams accomplished? That in Him, I am enough, and have enough?"

“For of his fullness we have all received and grace upon grace” John 1:16.

God gives us His fullness—the filler in our gaps—the strength in our weakness.

God gives us His fullness—in the busy seasons—in the seasons where you feel like you are failing miserably at everything.

When your feet are tied, you don’t have much choice but to trust Him. And His Grace… oh, His grace upon grace… how He covers us, our kids, our dreams, and gives us far more than we deserve!

He is good.

Amen.

..................................................................................

Maybe we can encourage each other... How are your feet tied?? How do you feel slowed down??

And as a reminder, I love comments (I love hearing from you!). I just installed a new comment manager so that I could more easily reply to you and you could encourage one another. Fingers crossed it works. If you hate it or can't figure it out, do let me know and I will change it or take some time to explain it! I love getting emails too: conqueringhousewife{at}the-cadence{dot}com.

Like what you read here? Consider subscribing to this blog's feed or subscribing by email to have my posts put nicely into your email box? Or join all the conquering housewives on facebook?

See ya on Tuesday for the next post in The Waiting Room Series!

Lots of love to you-- all the beautiful conquering housewives!

Amanda