Motherhood--grit and grace!

     Happy Mother's day to all those mamas out there!  I heard a little phrase the other day that I thought really captured what we mamas need: "grit and grace."  We need a boatload of grit on those long hard days when the routine chores seem to pile up, the patience quota seems to dip perilously low, and exhaustion and discouragement threaten to swamp our resolve and love.  On those days, we need to ask the Lord for grit to finish the day strong, somehow, someway.  We need to pause and ask the God of all grace for His grit and grace just for that day, that hour, to be the mothers He has called us--and will enable us--to be.
     So often our problem is not so much lacking the grit and grace for the long day we are dealing with today.  Rather, it's anticipating how on earth we will face and endure the long, hard day tomorrow or next week or in the months to come.  But God does not give us tomorrow's grace today.  He gives us today's manna for today's needs and calls us to trust that His mercies are new every morning and that He will not fail us tomorrow or next week or next year.  We worry that we may not have what it takes when our children are toddlers or teenagers or young adults.  But worry just saps us of the strength God has given us for today and does nothing to empower and enable us tomorrow.  As one old English proverb put it: "Worry is carrying tomorrow's burden with today's strength."  We can't do it.  Never could.  Never will.
     But He is always sufficient for today's burdens.  He is the eternal "I Am"--always able, always faithful, always infinite in His grace and grit for our every need today.  And then tomorrow, the eternal I Am will be just as infinitely gracious and powerful and perfect and present for our needs for that day.  The question is, will we trust Him?  Will we trust that He will meet tomorrow's needs and burdens?  Do we trust that He will cause the sun to rise tomorrow morning?  Do we trust that our eyes will open the next day to see what needs to be done and that our mouths will open to speak and our hands will move and work to be busy about our day?
     I love Eugene Peterson's translation of Hebrews 12:1-2: "Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we'd better get on with it.  Strip down, start running--and never quit!  No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished the race we're in."
     That's it!  Look unto Jesus!  Strip down all that bloat of busyness, all those sinful distractions that keep our eyes from following the Savior.  Determine that no matter what, you will spend time daily fixing your gaze upon the Savior who has already run the race and is cheering you on and enabling you to run your race in His strength.  But you have to start running and refuse to quit!
     I've only run one marathon in my life, and, brother, it was brutal. I started out great and thought how glorious all this was... until I "hit the wall" around mile 22 or so.  Just 4 miles to go, and after all the running I had been doing, that should have been nothing, but, good grief, I was just totally spent, desperately exhausted, and utterly discouraged.  I remember hoping I would sprain my ankle so I could quit!
     But I didn't quit.  No way, not after all those months of training and preparation.  I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and keep plugging along--very very slowly, but nonetheless, still moving forward towards the finish line.  And somehow, by the grace of God (and the grace of my sweet sisters jogging along beside me in their regular clothes and their purses banging on their sides as they ran!), I finished the race.  Alleluia!
      If ever there was a marathon of a race, it's motherhood!  Whew, I get tired just thinking about it!  But I learned in running those races when I was younger (much much younger!) you gotta keep your eyes focused ahead and keep running.  Don't waste time and effort looking around at your competitors.  Don't worry about the other lanes. Stop comparing and contrasting.  And whatever you do, don't quit!  Just keep running and looking towards the finish line. As Eugene Peterson put it, it's that "long obedience in the same direction."  Keep looking unto Jesus and trusting that He who put you in the race will give you the strength to to finish strong.
     And He will.  He always always always will!  So happy mother's day!  Keep fixing your focus on Jesus and keep running with grit and grace, trusting that He will carry you all the way to the finish line. To the God of all grit and grace, be all the glory.