For when you're ready to quit

Do you ever have those moments when you feel like you are never going to get any better than you are now? And not only that but all the hard work you have done and all the progress you have made is just slipping away? That’s how I feel.

It's the end of a long day and my child keeps yelling for me instead of going to sleep and I am reaching my last straw. I want so badly to be the mom I have been striving to be, to not be super irritated and, yes, mad that my child isn’t cooperating and frustrated that I gave in and yelled today.

Will I ever be the mom I want to be? Will my children grow up short-tempered and angry when things go wrong instead of kind and gentle like the other moms are surely teaching their kids to be with their awe-inspiring examples? What’s the use of trying if I’m just going to keep having days like this?

Do you ever have those thoughts? You are certainly not alone and as I type these words I must remind myself of that, too.

I think the problem today is I saw too many nice moms in the last couple of days. Nice moms with their well-behaved kids who are kind and gentle and will grow up to be amazing parents themselves. These kids will be better parents in the future than I am now. So not only am I comparing but I am overkilling it. But knowing that doesn’t stop me from wondering if I’ll ever come close to being like these moms whose greatness I aspire to. 

Do you ever feel that way, too? That’s the adversary. There is no way the Spirit would be whispering this to you. There is no way your Heavenly Father would want you to feel this way. There is no possible circumstance in which your Savior would tsk tsk you and tell you if only you were good enough for His Atonement He could help you.

So why do we feel this way?? Because we give in to those awful, vile, soul-destroying whisperings of the evil one. He wants you to be miserable. He wants you to compare yourself and give up. He wants so much to draw you away from all who love you, earthly and heavenly.

Don’t listen. You may be having bad day today, you might even have a few bad days in a row, but you are still a child of God. YOU. You are a child of God. And guess what?? He loves you. Even though you messed up, He loves you. And He loves your children, too. He sent them to you because He wants the best for them and you are the best person for the job. Did you hear that? YOU are the BEST person for THIS job. For THESE children. YOU. You are amazing and you are doing your best and you can do this. You just have to keep trying. That is all He asks.

So get out there and prove satan wrong. Get out there and keep trying, keep fighting, keep striving, keep pushing. You are getting there. You will get there. And They will be with you every step of the way.

You got this. And so do I.