May’s Motherhood Race

It’s May again, and like an unleashed torrent of water from a plugged hole in a dam, the flood of activities, field trips, end-of-year wrap-up events sweeps us moms away at an alarming rate. The May motherhood race is upon us, yet again. Ballet recitals, sports potlucks, field trips, open houses, and a myriad of other volunteer-intensive special events make it a “three scroll” calendar day, every day, for weeks at a time. Although the Covid-19 Pandemic saved us from 2020’s May onslaught, this year things are feeling mostly normal, just with masks and other Covid restrictions.

Each May, I try coming up for air, I try canceling all but the urgent, and yet still, I find myself unable to handle all the details; I forget and drop things. How can anyone but some freakishly equipped superhero handle all the parenting demands with ease?

I need to laugh. Wait, maybe I need to cry first. I feel like I have to sign up for everything and do it all. Instead, I cry “uncle.” I can do no more.

I’m sorry, teachers, I can’t laminate anything more. I can’t grade the spelling tests. I can barely pull myself out of bed and get my kids dressed.

Our morning routine has melted down into a series of commands, “Eat!”… “shoes!”… “door”… “late!”

The kids are tired, I’m tired, I’m sure the teachers are tired too.

We’re running a May motherhood race, that’s for sure.

 

While the flurry of events comes and goes, I don’t anticipate these weeks of crazy; I look forward to the (hopefully) peaceful days of summer to come. The rest (and not the bickering over screen time). The days to wake up late and eat pancakes at noon if we want to.

It reminds me of the race of life marked out for us that the Apostle Paul speaks of in the book of Hebrews:

..let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,” Hebrews 12:1-2

All this life is a race, heading towards the finish line when we are united with Christ in God in our true home, heaven. Knowing this, we can finish out the school year with endurance despite our parental exhaustion only when we stop to meditate on this fact, even if the moments are sandwiched between sporting events and recitals.

Hebrews 12:2 continues by telling us that Jesus, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Because of this incredible fact, we need not “grow weary and lose heart.”

Not to say that it isn’t a challenge, you know, having a good attitude throughout “the race.”

Let’s be honest, Life can be really, really hard.

I don’t want to gloss over that very true fact.

I’m just reminding myself, as well as you, that it’s okay to pause, admit defeat, and ask your Savior to carry you. That’s the thing we most often forget: where I leave off is many times the place where Christ shows up the most. When I’m weak, there is more room for Him to be strong.

You can make it, I know you can.