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“I’m done!”  Have you ever been there? It’s the kind of “done” that makes everything more frustrating.  The dishes pile up. The laundry calls your name—and your husband’s needs become an annoyance rather than a precious priority.

Anyone?  Can I get a witness?

Well today, I am in the book of Galatians, chapter 6, verse 9. The reason why I decided to go back to this verse (we’ve gone over it a couple times before) is because I know how challenging the holidays can be for busy moms. There are so many things that weigh on us and so many things that we feel like we need to be doing. It seems like the holidays just ramp up stress for us.

If you feel “done” this New Year, you can find encouragement in God’s Word.

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

I love Paul’s encouragement not to give up. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a tough week: unexpected things have happened: computer glitches, spilled milk on school assignments, siblings squabbling, and spilled coffee. Yesterday, I re-heated my tea three times before altogether forgetting about it in the microwave.

One thing after another seemed to go “wrong.” Feelings of insecurity and failure invade my New Year’s resolutions before I have even finished my list!  All these things, I must confess, eventually led me to questioning my sanity.  Sanity is a must-have for every busy mom, right? I looked in the mirror and this tired, overwhelmed face stared back at me.

Christmas vacation is almost over. I’m a homeschool mom, so no school bus is coming to take these kids off my hands, no nanny, no babysitter, it’s all me… 24/7. Sometimes I want to give up. After all, I ask myself, “what mom in her right mind chooses to be locked up all day with little people with no hope of reprieve in sight?” Who would be nutty enough to do that?

Uhh…me.

Here’s why: I am trying to “plant with the harvest in mind” like every mom who is raising her kids to love and follow Jesus Christ. When I am wiping juice off the wall, cleaning the toddler’s potty, or instructing the children for what feels like the millionth time on how to finish cleaning the kitchen rather than quitting after the dishwasher is loaded, I need to remember the WHY of all of it. At the end of the day, mothers are not “just” training and teaching their children. Moms are  investing in the next generation of doctors, legislators, lawyers, policemen, bank tellers, construction workers, missionaries, pastors, and mothers who will, by God’s grace, invest their lives in their children.

My own daughter is now a young mother herself.  Watching her with Noah reminds me of the value that raising a family holds. It’s wonderful to begin passing the baton to the next generation. It’s a reminder to me, and to you, that we are investing in our children because they are what is really going to matter at the end of our lives.  They’re worth it.

It goes by fast—don’t grow weary. Persevere, busy mom.

Plant with a harvest in mind.