Maybe it was the lack of sleep you had last night, the night before that and the night before that. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t actually remember the last time you had a full night of sleep.

Maybe it was the lack of a shower this morning, the morning before that and the morning before that. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t remember the last time you had an uninterrupted shower by yourself.

Maybe it was the lack of food in your belly that was continually growling. Maybe it’s the fact that you fed everyone else and forgot to feed yourself (again) or maybe you just can’t digest food very well on so little sleep.

Maybe it was the lack of quiet and calmness around you. Maybe it’s the fact that babies, toddlers and kids of any age are loud and often while raising them, your head feels like it’s perpetually screaming with a migraine.

Maybe it was the lack of adult conversation or someone to share your feelings with. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t remember the last time you talked to someone your own age.

Maybe it was the lack of communication with your spouse. Maybe it’s the fact that every time you try to speak to one another you are interrupted by a sweet little miniature version of yourself (or of your spouse).

Maybe it was the lack of time alone to rest and recharge, maybe it’s the fact that you can’t remember the last time you took even a few moments and did something that was just for you and not for anyone else.

Maybe it was the lack of organization within your home, maybe it’s the fact the every time you clean it gets undone and everywhere you go you step on Legos.

It happens to all of us

Whatever it was, whatever the reason, there is nothing worse than looking down at the little loves of your life and realizing that you were short with them (again). There’s nothing worse than realizing that you could have been more patient. There’s nothing worse than realizing you raised your voice because you were running on empty (again) and just wanted all the chaos around you to stop for a moment.

Whatever it was, whatever the reason, right or wrong, rational or irrational, remember this:

Sometimes us Mamas lose our patience because we exist in a continual state of “lack,” especially when our children are young. The very definition of the word “lack” according to the Cambridge Dictionary is: “the fact that something is not available or that there is not enough of it.”

Take time to fill your own cup

And sweet Mama, that is the very problem: you are constantly available and needed to fill the cups of your little ones, all of the time while there is almost always not enough left to fill your own cup.

I read Psalm 23 on my Women’s Bible App in my bathroom today and stopped at verse 5 on the following four words: “my cup runneth over…” I was reminded of the fact that with God at my side and His words in my heart, my cup is always full. Even when it doesn’t feel like it. I was reminded that Jesus experienced sleep deprivation, hunger, sadness, chaos and tears yet he came out on the other side refined.

To the Mom who lost her patience today, whatever the reason, whatever it was, God sees, He understands your whole entire situation (not just the parts that other people see). He’s rooting for you and only He knows the purifying that is taking place in your heart while you mother with absolutely all of it. While you pour into your babies day in and day out.

Don’t forget to stop a moment (even in the bathroom if you have too) and fill your cup back up with a simple scripture that reminds you of his unfailing love and fills your heart to the brim. I’ll.leave you with Ephesians 3:16-19

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”