WEBVTT 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:04.339 An honest conversation coming at yet today because 00:00:04.339 --> 00:00:07.540 this mama is excited for the New Year because 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.140 looking back at this last year, what a year it 00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:13.560 has been. We have added so much to our community. 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:17.539 We have added so much to our family life. In 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:20.120 case you missed it, we added a new baby to our 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.640 family. So I am now mom to five precious babies 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:27.800 and I say babies. My oldest is almost 16. So 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:30.620 I should probably stop calling them babies because 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:33.429 they are there they're getting pretty big but 00:00:33.429 --> 00:00:35.929 we do have a fresh baby in our home she was born 00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:39.250 mid -November right before Thanksgiving and it 00:00:39.250 --> 00:00:41.689 has been just a precious time snuggling with 00:00:41.689 --> 00:00:45.429 her getting to know her and losing sleep oh you 00:00:45.429 --> 00:00:48.329 guys I'm I'm I'm tired I'm just gonna say it 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:51.329 but as the cliche sayings go this time does not 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:54.450 last forever and it will soon be over right so 00:00:54.450 --> 00:00:57.409 I'm hanging on to that I am enjoying the cuddles 00:00:57.409 --> 00:01:01.250 the sweet moments I'm enjoying watching my my 00:01:01.250 --> 00:01:03.850 10 -year -old daughter experience our home with 00:01:03.850 --> 00:01:08.450 a little baby. And that's been really neat. So 00:01:08.450 --> 00:01:10.650 in today's podcast, I thought I would share some 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:12.870 of these changes and what they have looked like 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:16.489 for me because they have not been easy. I would 00:01:16.489 --> 00:01:19.590 like to share maybe some of the challenges and 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:22.310 some of the ways that I was able to show up in 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:27.290 spite of things being hard. because sometimes 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:29.650 it's just nice to know that you are not alone 00:01:29.650 --> 00:01:33.269 in the Hark. We are all mamas, we all have our 00:01:33.269 --> 00:01:36.069 hard days, we all have our hard months perhaps. 00:01:36.829 --> 00:01:39.489 I know I did, and it's just nice to know that 00:01:39.489 --> 00:01:42.730 you are not alone, that you're not going crazy, 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:46.750 that it is all part of just motherhood, part 00:01:46.750 --> 00:01:49.849 of life, and that there are ways that we can 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:58.019 still show up even if we are not 100%. Mamas 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:00.680 of multiple kids, you know that pregnancies can 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:04.120 be so different. One from the next, right? I 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:07.500 had my first four when I was very young, and 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:09.419 I had them back to back. They were all about 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:12.159 two years apart. And while there were a few differences 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.840 in all of them because your body changes, they 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.039 were all pretty similar. One of the facts that 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:20.080 I remember about being pregnant with my first 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:23.819 four was that I loved being pregnant. I did. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.439 I always said, if I could just stay pregnant, 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:30.409 I would I would have loved that back when I was 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:33.729 between 20 and 25. I didn't really have complications 00:02:33.729 --> 00:02:37.490 and honestly pregnancies were pretty easy. And 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:40.889 now fast forward about 10 years, my body has 00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:43.330 told a different story, which I find a little 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:47.729 ironic because I have never been healthier in 00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:52.310 my entire life. I in the last three years I have 00:02:52.310 --> 00:02:54.569 taken my health. I've really gotten serious with 00:02:54.569 --> 00:02:57.580 it. I have taken the foods that we have consumed, 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.840 and I've gone down that rabbit trail. We've eaten 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.120 better, we've eaten cleaner. We take care of 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.719 our bodies in a different way. I mean, I'm going 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:09.580 to chiropractic care. So I think I assumed that 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:12.520 being pregnant this time around would be about 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:15.460 the same, and if not better, because I was in 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:18.740 a better state, just physically and in a healthier 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:22.080 state. So I think I was really surprised when 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:24.800 the pregnancy did not go that way. To give you 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.379 a little perspective, to quote my oldest son, 00:03:27.580 --> 00:03:31.419 he said, Mom, this whole year I wondered, what 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:34.439 happened to my mom? Because this is not the same 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:37.960 person. So just to give you a little insight 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.219 as to where I was, the best ways to describe 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:45.360 it would probably be mental fog, emotional checkout, 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.800 and physical exhaustion. I'm going to insert 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.419 a little tangent here, a little side story. I 00:03:51.419 --> 00:03:53.879 was married to my first husband for six years 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:57.460 and we had three boys and I was pregnant with 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:00.300 my little girl whenever I lost my first husband. 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:03.580 He had a heart condition and we just happened 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:06.520 to be spending a week at the beach with family 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.639 and friends when he went to play in the ocean 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.500 and the waves were a little rough that day. The 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:14.580 intensity of the waves was just a little too 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:17.500 much that day, and it caused his heart to just 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:20.420 bottom out, honestly, and had a seizure in the 00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:23.259 water. By the time we found him, it was... He'd 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.100 been underwater. We don't know how long. So we 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:29.939 ended up in ICU for a week. His body did not 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:33.660 recover from the seizures and the water intake 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:38.139 and whatever else, you know, complications. So 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:41.600 a week later, we lost him. Here I was, mom of 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.399 three boys pregnant with my little girl, which 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:46.579 I didn't know that it was a little girl. So that 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:50.500 was a sweet surprise later on. And a very, very 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:53.319 short snippet into this time of life. I was a 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.699 single mom for about seven years with my four 00:04:56.699 --> 00:05:00.579 kids. And I never thought that my little girl 00:05:00.579 --> 00:05:04.160 would be my last baby. So... that the longing 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.759 in my heart for more kids was always there. It 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:09.699 was an ache, an ache that I couldn't satisfy 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:13.199 because I was now a single mom. So for all those 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:16.459 years, I just laid it down before the Lord and 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:19.399 said, your will be done. And I didn't know what 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.339 the future would hold. I didn't know if I would 00:05:21.339 --> 00:05:24.290 remarry or not. I didn't know if there would 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:26.990 be more kids or not. And so it was something 00:05:26.990 --> 00:05:29.329 I couldn't control. So I just had to leave it 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:32.449 up to God and say, it is yours. You know the 00:05:32.449 --> 00:05:35.490 cry of my heart. Here it is. And he tenderly 00:05:35.490 --> 00:05:39.029 held that for seven plus years. So fast forward 00:05:39.029 --> 00:05:42.689 sometime I met my now husband, Caleb, and him 00:05:42.689 --> 00:05:46.350 and I decided to get married. So here I was remarried. 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:48.870 And a few years in, we discussed having more 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:52.069 kids. This could be a whole nother side podcast. 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:55.149 but we discussed it with the kids and we waited 00:05:55.149 --> 00:05:58.290 till everyone came around to the idea or that 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.370 they were okay, I guess, with the idea in their 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:03.370 hearts. When everyone was on board, we decided 00:06:03.370 --> 00:06:07.149 to add another one. And I say all this because 00:06:07.149 --> 00:06:11.050 sometimes, sometimes our longings, our dreams, 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:16.129 our hopes, our hearts' desires are put on hold 00:06:16.129 --> 00:06:19.370 for so long that we think that God has forgotten 00:06:19.370 --> 00:06:23.740 or that it will never come to fruition. And sometimes 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:27.699 it might not. Sometimes the answer is no. But 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:30.779 there's a difference, I think, for carrying a 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:35.519 dream so hard that it weighs you down and carrying 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.779 a dream in your heart and laying it before the 00:06:37.779 --> 00:06:41.759 Lord and saying, Your will be done and leaving 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:44.720 it there and walking away and continuing on with 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:48.629 your life. and not expecting answers, not expecting 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:53.529 a solution now, not expecting it all to be better 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:56.990 in the moment, but just laying it down gently 00:06:56.990 --> 00:06:59.810 before the Lord and letting Him carry it for 00:06:59.810 --> 00:07:03.290 you. I know for the first few years I carried 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:07.629 it, and I was so heartbroken. I mean, my little 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:10.850 girl stopped nursing at seven months old. Seven 00:07:10.850 --> 00:07:13.430 months old, she just one day woke up and decided 00:07:13.430 --> 00:07:17.240 she was done. And here I was wanting to soak 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.699 up what I thought was my last child, my last 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:23.519 pregnancy, my last baby in my arms to nurse. 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.139 I was going to soak it up past seven months old. 00:07:27.339 --> 00:07:30.100 I mean, we were going to nurse as long as we 00:07:30.100 --> 00:07:33.759 needed. And here she was, she woke up and said, 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:37.759 I'm done at seven months old. And I had to process 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.720 that loss. So I carried this dream, this desire 00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:46.050 really hard and I held on to it so hard for so 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:49.889 many years and it wasn't till I laid it down 00:07:49.889 --> 00:07:53.850 and I said all right God I do not know I do not 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:58.209 know what the future holds I cannot see but you 00:07:58.209 --> 00:08:02.269 can and you can see my desire right now so I'm 00:08:02.269 --> 00:08:06.689 going to give it back to you and I enjoyed my 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:10.519 kids my four kids That's what I had, and I was 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:13.279 very content with that. There was still that 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:16.439 desire there, but it wasn't weighing me down. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:21.040 And I enjoyed my kids greatly. We lived life 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.939 in the moment. We laughed. We played. We adventured. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.420 We traveled. We moved countries. We did things. 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:33.600 And all the while, God tenderly held that dream 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:38.389 of mine. So this pregnancy was an answered prayer. 00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:41.769 It was so much more than just adding another 00:08:41.769 --> 00:08:45.149 baby to the family. It was years of tenderly 00:08:45.149 --> 00:08:48.669 holding a loss. It was years of my heart longing 00:08:48.669 --> 00:08:51.850 for something that I didn't know would happen. 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:55.289 And I stepped in fully aware of all of these 00:08:55.289 --> 00:09:00.299 things and fully expectant to embrace every area, 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:04.200 every flutter, every thought, every movement, 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.600 everything about this pregnancy. I expected to 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.700 step in and have the best experience that I had 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:14.679 ever had while carrying my child. I started reading 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:17.480 The Mama Natural, week by week guide to pregnancy 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:21.299 at childbirth by Genevieve Howland, and I was 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:24.120 doing all of the things. I was following it down 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.549 to the last thing she was suggesting. making 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:30.250 sure to get plenty of rest, drink plenty of water 00:09:30.250 --> 00:09:33.929 and electrolytes, all of the things that I knew 00:09:33.929 --> 00:09:37.289 to do, and yet in spite of all of that, things 00:09:37.289 --> 00:09:40.490 started to change. I'm not exactly sure on timelines, 00:09:40.690 --> 00:09:43.870 but I was around a week, probably 15, 16, when 00:09:43.870 --> 00:09:46.049 I got a call from my midwife letting me know 00:09:46.049 --> 00:09:48.330 that my platelets were low, which is not a big 00:09:48.330 --> 00:09:50.269 deal if you're planning a hospital birth, but 00:09:50.269 --> 00:09:52.490 I was not. I was planning a home birth. And for 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:54.549 those of us wondering what in the world platelets 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:56.370 are, let me explain it to you really quickly. 00:09:56.730 --> 00:09:59.389 It is the cells in our blood that help us clot 00:09:59.389 --> 00:10:02.950 and not bleed out and not hemorrhage. So whenever 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:05.750 you are doing a home birth or any kind of birth, 00:10:06.070 --> 00:10:09.429 a hospital or other, is very important to have 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:13.009 platelets enough to help you clot and not hemorrhage. 00:10:13.429 --> 00:10:16.250 So a very important part of this process. And 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:20.070 I've got to say, I love my midwife so much. She 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:23.470 was on it. She gave me a list of things to start 00:10:23.470 --> 00:10:26.190 taking immediately to start bringing my platelets 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:29.529 up. And we had a few months to get this done. 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:32.909 So the things she put me on were not fun to take. 00:10:33.190 --> 00:10:35.970 They were disgusting. They tasted horrible. And 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:38.299 it was going to be months of this. But you know 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:40.740 what? I was committed to doing everything that 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:44.320 I could in this pregnancy to make it amazing 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.379 and show up well for the birth. I felt really 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:49.919 good about it. I was excited to have natural 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.899 remedies to help bring my platelets up and I 00:10:52.899 --> 00:10:56.159 was determined to be active the rest of my pregnancy. 00:10:56.539 --> 00:10:58.879 I was saving videos of ways that I was going 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:03.240 to exercise and move my body and around week 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:08.820 maybe 20. I started going downhill fast. It felt 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:11.100 like every week that went by there was something 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:14.679 new to deal with. Which, if you have a very independent 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.840 spirit and you tend to be a figure it out yourself 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:22.159 kind of gal, like I am, this can be very challenging. 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:25.000 As the weeks went on, I had to start depending 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.539 more and more on my husband and on my kids. And 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:32.019 to put it simply, I was barely able to show up 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:35.559 physically and mentally. and I guess emotionally 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:38.879 for my family. Now, if you know anything about 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.960 me, you know that I do things intentionally. 00:11:41.539 --> 00:11:44.179 It is the heart behind pretty much everything 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:47.340 I post, everything I write, and everything I 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:50.799 do at home. I try to show up intentionally in 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.419 all areas of life. Now, do I get that perfectly? 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:57.840 No, don't misunderstand me here. But this is 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.799 what I try to do. So going on months of not being 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.759 able to show up intentionally, of not even being 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:09.980 able to make, to meal plan, to do traditions 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:13.039 that we would normally do, it made this season 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.919 of life not only hard, but it crushed my heart 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:19.539 because I was not able to show up in the ways 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:22.299 that I knew that I wanted to for my kids and 00:12:22.299 --> 00:12:25.659 my husband. And this is where I played the mom 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:28.250 guilt card. It would show up at the end of the 00:12:28.250 --> 00:12:31.610 day when I was going to bed playing through the 00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:35.210 events of the day and I saw how much I had missed 00:12:35.210 --> 00:12:39.250 or how many times I wasn't able to show up. It 00:12:39.250 --> 00:12:42.230 would come out when I would study our family 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:44.830 life and see all the things that I was failing 00:12:44.830 --> 00:12:47.929 at, all the things that I needed to step in and 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:51.090 help or conversations I needed to have, but I 00:12:51.090 --> 00:12:54.509 honestly did not even have the capability to 00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:58.149 do that. The mom guilt weighed so heavily on 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:02.429 me. But this is where I think is so awesome to 00:13:02.429 --> 00:13:04.950 have a community around you. I have a friend 00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:09.070 who is really, really good at encouraging and 00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:13.789 so often she would find the little things. She 00:13:13.789 --> 00:13:15.809 would see the little things that I would miss 00:13:15.809 --> 00:13:18.690 because I was so overwhelmed by all of the big 00:13:18.690 --> 00:13:21.529 things that I couldn't do. And she would constantly 00:13:21.529 --> 00:13:24.379 point those out to me. As soon as I would start 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:27.019 going down the list of things that I couldn't 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:30.179 accomplish, she would quickly bring out something 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:32.919 that I was doing, something she noticed that 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:35.659 I was doing. I am forever grateful for my friend 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:38.940 Abby in this season and the way she encouraged 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:41.799 me, the way she shored me up and prayed over 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:46.500 me when the days felt long and hard. Mama, find 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:49.759 you a community, find you a friend, one friend 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:53.259 who can come alongside you in the hard days and 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:57.200 encourage you to push you to keep going because 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:00.799 hard days are inevitable. I know this, you know 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:04.159 this, but a friend, someone who sees how hard 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.600 you are trying even when it doesn't feel like 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:10.440 it, someone who speaks life into your heart, 00:14:10.750 --> 00:14:13.690 That is a precious thing as we are showing up 00:14:13.690 --> 00:14:17.250 every day in our motherhood journey. So friends 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:19.789 I would say was one of the ways I was able to 00:14:19.789 --> 00:14:23.450 show up even when my body was not letting me 00:14:23.450 --> 00:14:27.470 show up. My friends I had a couple who just surrounded 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:31.090 me with prayer and encouragement and I can say 00:14:31.090 --> 00:14:34.090 they helped me get through. Another very simple 00:14:34.090 --> 00:14:36.710 way that I was able to show up in this season 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:39.710 of life was seeing the things that I could control. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.240 There was so much that was out of my control, 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:44.639 but there were still quite a few things that 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:48.000 I could do something about. It looked like drinking 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.960 enough water every single day. That was such 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:53.580 a small decision. It was something I could do, 00:14:54.100 --> 00:14:56.759 something I knew I could get up and do, even 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:58.820 if it meant sometimes asking my kids to bring 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:02.019 me water. But I looked at the tasks that needed 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:05.580 to be done and assessed the ones that I could 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:09.519 do every single day, show up in small ways. I 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.480 wasn't able to show up in the big ways that I 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:13.879 really wanted to, but I could show up in the 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:17.139 small ways for my body, for myself, for my family, 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.899 and that made a really big difference in how 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:24.159 I showed up. Simply choosing the little things. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:26.899 Choosing to be faithful in the little things 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:30.220 in spite of not being able to be really faithful 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:33.080 in the big things. Something I had to keep reminding 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.860 myself over and over was this is a season. This 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.279 is a season. It will soon be over. We will soon 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.340 be on the other side of that hill. All the physical 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:47.779 things that I am dealing with right now will 00:15:47.779 --> 00:15:52.159 soon be over. It is a season. Sometimes you just 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:55.279 have to pep talk yourself. Sometimes you just 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.879 have to look at yourself in the mirror and talk 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.740 to yourself and say, this is a season or whatever 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:05.240 you need to hear. Sometimes our friend saying 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.559 it is not enough. We have to believe it. And 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:12.080 this little phrase helped me know that it would 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.860 soon be over. It might have felt like the longest 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:19.200 stretch, but it's just a season. Friends, I share 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:22.799 all of this, not just to tell a story, but to 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:26.139 encourage your mama heart, so that, like I said 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:28.399 at the beginning, you know you are not alone. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.100 You may be walking a hard season right now in 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.580 motherhood, in your own life, in your personal 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:36.840 life. But you are not alone. There are so many 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:40.039 of us out there who struggle with depression, 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:44.740 with anxiety, with fears, doubts, with mom guilt 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.279 and comparison, exhaustion and mental fog. Pick 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:50.279 any one of those and you will have a group of 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:52.879 moms who can sympathize because they've either 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.159 been there or they are there right now. And for 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.899 those of us who are there right now, I would 00:16:57.899 --> 00:17:01.159 like to end today with a prayer over us. Lord. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.919 I lift up the mama listening right now who feels 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.039 like she's just barely treading water. In the 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.460 middle of this hard season, would you meet her 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:12.279 in the quiet moments, even if that's just a few 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:14.779 minutes in the driveway? I pray that you would 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.839 calm her anxious thoughts, lighten the heavy 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:21.299 load she's carrying, and remind her that she 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:24.279 doesn't have to be perfect to show up for her 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.619 family. Give her strength for today. Give her 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:32.359 hope for tomorrow. and let her feel seen, let 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:36.680 her feel known by you and deeply loved. In your 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:41.019 son's name we pray. Amen. I'm so grateful you're 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:43.859 a part of this community, Mama. If today's episode 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:46.259 spoke to your heart, would you mind sharing it 00:17:46.259 --> 00:17:48.859 with another mom who might need a little extra 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.779 grace today? And remember, I'm always hanging 00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:55.000 out on Instagram. over at ellieandtheboys .co, 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:59.440 sharing life behind the scenes of our messy real 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:03.079 -life moments. Come and say hi if you have a 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:04.839 minute. See you in the next episode.