On Motherhood, Grace, and Stewarding the Unseen

In November I gave birth to our third baby girl, Indiana Rose Kirkland. These last three months have been a bit of a blur, as I navigate being a stay-at-home (err, work-at-home) mom of three young children. The days of laundry, diaper-changes, and meeting everyone else’s needs are long. The nights of waking, nursing, soothing, and rocking feel endless. My heart is full, and I am so grateful, but there is also this aching inside. An ache in my soul that feels insignificant, that feels like who and what I am is not enough. That I’m “just a mom.” A quick glance at social media seems to only affirm these feelings of insignificance, as I all too easily get caught in the comparison trap. 

So much of motherhood is unseen. It is not Instagram-worthy. There is no praise, no pay raise, no promotion. There are no gold stars, no rewards given, no measures of “success.” It requires selflessness and sacrifice and dying to ourselves. It takes everything we have to give and more.

This morning as I took time to recenter and reconnect to God’s heart, He reminded me that what we do in these quiet, unseen, unglamorous moments matters to God. He has entrusted us with these children and wants for us to embrace this season we’re in. If only we could see our value, and see ourselves the way He does. Motherhood is not insignificant work, it is a divine calling. He sees what no one else does. He sees you kiss a booboo for the thousandth time. He sees you reading stories to your children. He sees you make yet another lunch. He sees the piles of laundry you tend to as a service to your family. He sees your exhaustion and the way you persevere in spite of it. He sees the diaper changes, the discipline, and most importantly the unconditional love that you give and He sees your significance and worth. He sees the impact and influence you have in your family and the generations that will be forever changed because of you. 

How we steward the unseen parts of our lives is important to God. He is not interested in your life being instagram-worthy or admirable in the eyes of others. He cares about our hearts. He cares about our character. He cares about what we do when no one is watching and there’s no one to please but Him. And only when we are able to steward the unseen, can He entrust us with what is seen.

This work of motherhood is exhausting and hard and demanding and so so significant. Don’t listen to the lies that tell you otherwise. So let’s continue to show up, each day, and give it our all. Let’s embrace this current season in all of it’s chaos and messiness, and know that this work matters. That you matter. And that in and through it all— He’s with you.