Hope For Bad Moms Everywhere: Powerful 2-Step Process
Is there hope for bad moms? It’s a question every mother asks herself on occasion. Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes.
Posts may contain affiliate links, including Amazon links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. See disclosure policy for details.
An Innocent Question
“Do all moms think they are bad moms?” my eight-year-old daughter asked me, her eyes full of innocence.
Gathered around the dinner table, I was telling my family about a talk I had heard at a Women’s Conference earlier that day.
The speaker shared with us a personal experience from her journal⎯a dark period in her life when she had felt hopeless, hopeless to overcome her weaknesses and become the person she is meant to be.
In agony of soul, she cried out to her Father in Heaven, as she had done countless times before, regarding her situation.
Her situation?
She yelled at her children.
She yelled at her children after making the commitment to no longer yell at them.
Today, she broke that commitment by yelling, yet again (because of their constant whining and teasing and disobedience and….well…all those things that tend to push a mom past her breaking point.)
And while she was yelling, she caught a glimpse of her children’s hurt faces and broken spirits and it nearly broke her heart.
How could she ever be free of this insufferable weakness of yelling at her children?
Falling to her knees that night, she wept bitter tears of utter despair.
As I listened to her speak, my eyes scanned the conference room to find every woman wiping wet eyes.
I paused a moment to wipe my own.
Reflecting on the talk, I replied to my daughter,
“Yes,” I whispered, “I think every mother probably feels like a bad mom.”
“Oh,” she said softly, turning her attention back to her food.
A Haunting Response
My response to her question haunted me for the rest of the night.
Do I really want my daughters to think that I believe I am a bad mom? And that all moms feel like bad moms?
Do I want my daughters to grow up feeling that they themselves are bad moms?
No, I absolutely do not want them to think and feel those things.
So what, I wondered, could I do to no longer feel like a bad mom?
Thankfully, an answer was presented by the speaker at the Woman’s Conference. In essence, she said,
“I decided that night to hand my inadequacies over to my Savior and apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ to my life. I don’t know what He’s going to do with what I gave Him, but it’s now His.”
She then stood and went her way, acting as though she had never had that particular weakness.
Applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ
How many times have we been told to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ to our lives?
How exactly does one do that?
I admire how the speaker handed her inadequacies over to her Savior and then immediately moved forward in faith. Her actions showed that she believes that there is hope for bad moms everywhere.
Ironically, this process sounds to me like a good two-step action plan for applying Christ’s Atonement to one’s life:
- Hand your inadequacies over to the Savior
- Immediately move forward in faith
Faith is a form of action. As we move forward, acting in faith, we will inevitably stumble on occasion. This is simply part of the growth process.
Scientist and poet Piet Hein wrote short verses that he called brooks. One of his most famous brooks was called The Road to Wisdom:
‘Well, it’s plain
and simple to express.
Err and err and err again,
but less and less and less.’
Strive to learn from your mistakes in ways that allow the mistakes you make in the future to be less damaging than the ones made in the past.
Failure is a part of life. To learn the art of self-compassion, begin to treat yourself with warmth and understanding. You can set high expectations, but do not punish yourself when you fail. In this way, failure can be the teacher it was always intended to be.
To me, this process describes—in a nutshell—the application of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to one’s life.
Sunflower Bookmarks
Perfect for Mother’s Day!
- Set of four
- Hand painted
- Scripture verses
- Download and print
$3.50
Hope For Bad Moms
Early the next morning, I gathered my children to my side and told them that I had changed my mind; I said that I do, in fact, feel like a good
mom.
I acknowledged that I’m not perfect, but, because of Jesus Christ’s Atonement, I can try to do better tomorrow.
My children each smiled and told me that they think I’m a great mom.
Today, I wake up excited to face each day and go to bed feeling content, knowing⎯and really believing!⎯that, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I’ll have the opportunity to do better tomorrow.
It’s a practical lesson regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I hope my children will learn at an early age.
Conclusion
Those who feel like bad moms today can become better moms tomorrow, thanks to the matchless gift of Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Because of Jesus Christ, there is truly hope for “bad” moms everywhere.
What a beautiful gift that is!
more inspiration
Hope in Motherhood
Shop Hope in Motherhood
