It is Spring here on our farm…and with that we have enjoyed many walks, working in the yard, welcoming new babies, a total online branding overhaul, and starting to homeschool again! I try to make sure each day my girls are getting a portion of time with me that they feel they have my undivided attention. If I pick up my camera, I feel it breaks our connection and takes me from a participant to a spectator…and I can assure you…they want me participating! I honestly do not take enough pictures of my girls. To do so…I feel such a pressure to make things perfect and professional and polished…I treat it like a session. I guess in reality…it is…you see, I fear that one day my family will look back on my life and say…”Wow, she took a lot of pretty pictures for everyone else,” but, they will feel that something was missing from their own lives because of it.

Finding Balance. Anyone else struggle with that? If I do well with my kids this week, my online presence suffers…my response time to emails suffer…my marketing strategizing and business development suffers. If I focus in on my business…laundry goes undone…meals do not get planned…and my kids feel neglected.

How do you balance it all? I know many Moms out there who work outside the home feel the stress constantly. They feel like they are struggling to be present in their children’s lives even though they only get to see them a few precious hours a day…but, man…those hours you see them are some of the toughest parenting hours of the day!

Dinnertime in our house is when everything busts loose. Kids are hungry and do not want you standing in the kitchen working…they are constantly underfoot and mad when you shoo them away from the hot stove. Bath time is such a chore with littles (even though I love a good smelling baby), because they are totally helpless and need you to do everything…and they are so messy, splashing water everywhere. And bedtime…don’t even get me started. I really have been blessed with a toddler who goes down easily…but there always has to be crying and huge resistance to get her in her room to start the process!

Each of these things can be overwhelming when viewed in a blog post (such as this one). Overall, most days, us Moms just do it all without missing a beat. But, there are times…hormonal times, sleep deprived times, or just plain I-feel-like-I-can’t-do-anything-right times when we allow the overwhelm to really shake us back and make us feel like we are a complete failure at everything we have ever tried to do!

So…this weekend is Mother’s Day weekend. I am praying God will help me see how to create the balance I so desperately need in our home. I am praying He will show me what needs to be weeded out of my life so that we can focus on the areas that are truly important and that will bring the greatest harvest. I honestly can’t do it on my own…

Happy Mother’s Day Mama’s!!!

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