I think most moms tend to lose themselves in motherhood. There are a few big obstacles that stand in the way of us finding ourselves as women.

• Everyone comes before mom.

From the moment we bring our newborns home from the hospital, we put the baby’s needs before our own, which is a good thing.  As the baby grows, however, we continue to put their needs before our own, until one day, we stop realizing that we have needs.  In that process, we lose a part of ourselves.

• The world of motherhood can be lonely.

Being a mom can be very isolating.  No one prepares a mom for this reality.  Our schedules usually revolve around our children, their naptime, school, ball practice, etc. Moms tend to be isolated just by the nature of tending to everyone’s schedule.

A mom’s desire is to export a healthy family in the end.  But, you can’t export a healthy family if you can’t export a healthy you.  One thing to help any mom be a healthier version of herself is REST. 

Rest is not just a thing to do, but in Scripture, it is a requirement:

God rested on the seventh day as evidenced in Genesis 2:2-3:

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." 

Jesus models this as He retreats in Matthew 14:23:

"After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray."

As moms, we are doing an important job, but Jesus’ mission was to save the world! And yet, he took time to get away, to rest and pray. 

Moms, you don’t have a choice; your body needs rest. You can either give it the rest that it needs, or it will begin to shut down through anxiety, depression, aches and pains, or complete exhaustion.  When you begin to prioritize yourself, be prepared because false guilt will more than likely set in.  Resist that! You are going to be a BETTER mom because of the rest. Remind yourself that God himself prioritized rest, and He doesn’t see you as being lazy or selfish.