In the midst of stay-at-home mom-life chaos, I hear a car horn blow outside. It was our mailman with a package too big to fit in the mailbox. I dash outside in pajamas with no shoes, holding my sleeping newborn. I quickly get back inside and open the package to find clothes and toys for my kiddos, along with a mug for me. It was from one of my long distant best friends who loves my kids, and also shares my love for Pixar (and just totally gets me). The mug has Elastigirl (Mrs. Incredible) on one side and "Incredible Mom" on the other. I may or may not have cried a little because at the time I was not feeling like an "incredible mom". 

When do you feel "incredible", Mama? Maybe you feel it when you manage to get the kids out of the house to where they're supposed to be on time. Maybe you feel it when you get your picky eater to eat something healthy. Maybe you feel incredible when you finally get a moment to yourself and can shower or read or eat without being rushed or interrupted.

Maybe feeling incredible, the feeling of being a superhero mom, is hard to come by. 

A lot of the time I feel like I'm struggling or failing as a mother. And it's a lie straight from Satan himself. I know that. I hope you know that too when you feel that way. But even fully knowing that truth isn't enough. Because you can know something up and down, but when you're at your wits end and that baby is screaming in your ear or your older child says they hate you, that lie feels real. Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour." It's hard to be "sober-minded" when my emotions are in control. But Peter says if you don't keep your head on straight and keep watch for your weak moments, the devil will pounce. And he won't pounce like a kitten on a ball of yarn. He is like a roaring lion and will devour you if he has the chance. 

There have been so many moments as a mother when I have let myself be vulnerable to Satan's schemes. I have believed the lie that I'm not cut-out for motherhood. And I have refused the truth that I can be incredible. But in every single one of those moments I thought I had to believe in myself, when really what I needed was to believe in Jesus. Not just in His existence, but His power and strength. If we believe He was powerful and almighty enough to endure heartache, temptation, and physical pain without faltering; if we believe He was powerful and almighty enough to die and come back to life, literally defeating all evil and death; if we believe He was powerful and almighty enough to defeat the evil inside of us, giving us new life and new hope, then surely we have to believe that He is powerful and almighty enough to make us incredible mothers. Mothers that are patient, and present, and diligent, that discipline with love, that hold tight to the truth of the Word and not their emotions. Mothers who are faithful to their God. 

Mama, He is incredible. And if we lay down our whole selves, the emotions and frustrations and sinfulness, He will raise us up and make us into something incredible for His glory. That's what motherhood is really about. I know that through everything I endure, Jesus is molding me more like Himself so I can show these precious babies who He is.

Hold tight to the truth that you are enough for your children because He is enough for you. He has made you incredible for this mission of motherhood. Believe it.

"Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh." 2 Corinthians 4:7-11