Let's face it, Mother's Day is a complicated
bit of business. For some, it's the highlight
reel. Handmade cards with questionable spelling,
flowers at church, and maybe, if the stars align
and the Lord is feeling particularly merciful,
a cup of coffee that you actually finish while
it's still hot. But for others, the day carries
a different kind of weight. Maybe you're missing
your mom today. Maybe your relationship with
her is more complicated than Hallmark card. Maybe
you're grieving a child or the child you've longed
for hasn't come yet. Or maybe you're the mom
and while you love those kids to death, you're
tired in a way that a Sunday brunch just isn't
going to fix. I think a lot of that exhaustion
comes from the impossible job description we've
handed mothers. Today, a mom is expected to work
like she doesn't have kids, parent like she doesn't
have a job, and keep a home that looks like it
was staged for a magazine and cleaned by literal
angels. And then there's the digital discipleship.
You open TikTok or Instagram or Facebook or Pinterest
or whatever app is discipling us today, and suddenly,
To be a good mom, you need to be doing sensory
bins, baking sourdough from a 100 -year -old
starter, and apparently buying a cow. Look, if
you have a cow and are milking it, God bless
you. If you're great with sourdough or whatever
else they're telling you to do, well, bring me
some, but I'm happy for you, truly. But when
all those good things become a law you feel forced
to keep, They become a burden Jesus never intended
you to carry. That's what we're diving into today.
Not to give you one more thing to do, but to
remind you that Jesus isn't measuring your motherhood
by what you post. He sees the hidden faithfulness.
And hidden does not mean insignificant. Welcome
to Grace in the Grind, brought to you by Arrow
& Roots Coffee Company, where faith meets the
everyday. Here we take time to notice God's presence
in the middle of life's busiest moments, to find
encouragement, clarity, and a reminder of his
grace right in the grind of daily life. So grab
your coffee, and let's take a sip of this cup
together. And before we go any further, let me
pause for just a second and tell you what's brewed
today. Today is Coffee Date from Arrow & Roots
Coffee Company, brewed in Arrow Press. I like
it this way because it's quick, smooth, and honestly
hard to beat, which matters this morning because
it's Mother's Day, and I need to get back upstairs
to help Christy get the kids ready for church
before she ends up doing everything herself.
And that fits today's episode, because honoring
moms is not just something we say into a microphone.
Sometimes it looks like putting the coffee down,
heading upstairs, finding the tiny shoes, buttoning
the tiny shirt, and making sure mom doesn't have
to carry the whole morning alone. Today is for
motherhood we don't post about. The kind that
happens behind the scenes when the lights are
off and the filters are gone. I want to be clear,
this isn't an episode about whether moms should
work or stay home. Families are different. Finances
are different. The point is to name the tension
you're already feeling. Our guide today is Luke
10, where Jesus talks to Martha. She was doing
good things. But she was doing them with a heart
that was, as Jesus put it, anxious and troubled.
You know the story. Jesus is at Martha's house.
Mary is sitting at his feet, listening. Martha,
meanwhile, is in the kitchen, absolutely redlining
it. She's distracted with much serving. Finally,
she snaps. She looks at Jesus and says, Lord,
do you not care that my sister has left me to
serve alone? That's such a human moment. It's
not that Martha was lazy. She was working. She
was trying to make everything perfect. And Jesus
responds with such tenderness. Martha, Martha,
you are anxious and troubled about many things.
That phrase, anxious and troubled about many
things, could be substituted for modern motherhood.
Martha's problem wasn't that she cared. It was
that her care had become crowded with anxiety.
And Jesus meets her there, not with a performance
review, but with an invitation. Christy and I
eventually made a decision for our family to
live on one income so she could be home with
our boys. It's been a blessing. But it's come
with real costs and tight math. But here's the
thing I want you to sit in for just a second.
That was our conviction. It doesn't mean it's
the law for every family. There are a million
good things you can spend your life on. It is
a good thing to have a career that impacts the
world. It's a good thing to be home and present
for every milestone. It's a good thing to volunteer,
to bake, to garden, to lead a Bible study. But
we are not all called to do all the good things.
And we are certainly not called to prioritize
them equally. If you try to make everything a
priority one, you don't have a mission. You just
have a headache. Faithfulness isn't about doing
every good thing you see someone else doing on
the internet. It's about doing the specific things
God has put in your hands for this season. Our
culture has turned motherhood into a brand. It
used to be that if you had a rough day, only
the people in your house knew. Now, you have
a rough day and then scroll through photos of
families who seem to be thriving in ways you
aren't. But scripture doesn't call you to be
impressive. It calls you to be faithful. Faithfulness
looks like apologizing when you lost your temper.
It looks like praying when you're at your wit's
end. It looks like making dinner again or going
to work because your family needs that provision.
Motherhood isn't a performance. It's faithful
love in ordinary places. To every mom listening,
Jesus sees what the algorithm misses. He sees
the work that never gets a like. He sees the
single mom doing the job of two and the grieving
mom just trying to breathe. He isn't standing
over you with a checklist. He's saying, come
to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Your limits aren't a failure.
They're a reminder that you're human. You aren't
called to be everywhere or do everything. You're
called to follow Jesus with what he... not Pinterest,
has actually entrusted you to. Here's your homework.
Name one good thing you've been doing that Jesus
never actually asked you to carry. Maybe it's
a commitment that's draining your soul or a standard
of perfection that's stealing your joy. Name
it and ask, Lord, did you ask me to prioritize
this right now? If he didn't, lay it down. Motherhood
is too important to be buried under quote good
things that aren't your things. And before we
move forward here, I want to thank the moms in
my life. My mom gave up a career to come home
and to spend time with us. It was a hard decision
for her. I've had other moms in my life that
have made sacrifices and just... poured into
my life. And I want to be thankful for Christy,
my wife, who is pouring into our kids, and I
know the sacrifices she makes to do that. If
you're a mother out there today, we love you,
we appreciate you, and we see you. And now, if
you want to support this show, grab a bag of
coffee from Aaron Roots Coffee Company, and honestly,
if you know a mom, buy her a bag and tell her
to drink it while it's still hot. That's basically
a spiritual gift. To the moms, again, thank you
for the hidden work and the quiet sacrifices.
If today is hard for you, know that God is near
to the brokenhearted. If this encouraged you,
send it to a mom who's been caring more than
anyone knows. Leave a review, follow the show,
and keep walking with grace in the grind. And
remember, the motherhood you don't post about
still matters deeply to God. Thank you for listening
to Grace in the Grind, where we keep the coffee
strong and our faith stronger. And today, we
honor mothers. We honor motherhood. And that
doesn't need to be filtered to be beautiful.
To the moms in the trenches doing the quiet,
unglamorous work, you aren't just getting by.
You're being faithful. And God hasn't missed
a single second of it.