May 15, 2025 • 35 mins
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This week's episode first aired February of 2023. It has been my most popular episode to date. Enjoy this replay...
Have you ever felt like taking care of yourself was somehow selfish? After all, so many other people are counting on you. That mindset nearly broke me—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
When my boys were 5, 4, and 2, my body staged what I call a "mini rebellion." Heart surgery, chronic hives, thyroid issues, kidney stones, and persistent headaches all converged in the same season. This mini-health crisis became my wake-up call. I had to face an uncomfortable truth: I had been operating under the false belief that being a good mother meant giving until I had nothing left.
That's when I realized that mature people recognize their own needs and take responsibility for meeting them. This wasn't selfishness—it was wisdom. God gives us permission to create balanced, healthy lifestyles for ourselves and our families. We have far more control over the rhythms of our homes than we often realize.
As mothers, we set the emotional tone for our entire household. When we're depleted and running on empty, everyone feels it. When we're rested and nourished—both physically and spiritually—we create an atmosphere where our families can thrive.
In this episode I share six principles that helped me change my approach to motherhood and self-care: recognizing your needs, creating balanced routines, prioritizing rest, dealing with the chaos of busy seasons, asking for help without shame, and committing to growth in self-care. You weren't meant to be a martyr for your family; you were meant to be a blessing. And you can't pour from an empty cup.
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter at graceformyhome.com to receive regular encouragement in your journey of motherhood and faith.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello friend, welcome back to Grace.
For my Home, I'm AudreyMcCracken and I'm so glad to be
back with you again this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We have some exciting thingsgoing on here.
My oldest son will begraduating high school in a few
weeks and that warms my heartbecause, as a former homeschool
(00:20):
mom we made it I feel like I'mgraduating as well.
But he has.
He entered high school hisfreshman year after being
homeschooled for his entire lifeand he did great.
He did well.
You know, it was his decisionand he has.
He has done a great job andhe's had so many experiences in
high school that I believe hasprepared him for the next step,
(00:43):
and that is university.
He's going to university in thefall, and we for the next step,
and that is university.
He's going to university in thefall, and we're excited about
that as well.
And then his brother's right onhis heels.
His younger brother willgraduate next year.
So at least you know, at leastI will have been through this
once.
Right now I'm trying to figureit out.
I feel like I'm walking aroundin the dark trying to figure out
all of the pieces, and you knowI'm very proud of him.
(01:05):
We all are.
We're very proud of David andhis accomplishments and excited
about what the Lord has for him.
Also, I'm working on a lot ofprojects, some things that I
have shared with you guys alongand along.
One of the biggest projects I'mworking on right now is I am
going to release a dailydevotional podcast, a quick five
(01:27):
, 10 minute podcast during theweekdays to give you a little
encouragement for your day.
This is something that I havewanted to do for a long time and
I finally got up the courage todo it, finally decided hey, I'm
just going to do this.
This has been on my heart, itwon't leave me and I really want
to do this.
I'm been on my heart, it won'tleave me and I really want to do
this.
I'm working on that nail, andI'm also working on my second
(01:49):
book, and I have a Bible studythat's floating around in my
head that I need to get out ofmy head and get it.
You know, get it into the realworld.
And so I have a lot of projectsI want to work on and I need
some time to make some traction.
So what I've decided to do isto do something a little
different Over the next fiveweeks, I'm going to share with
(02:12):
you one of my most popularpodcast episodes from Grace From
my Home.
In the past three years.
I've been doing this, coming upnow three years, and so I have
some podcasts that have just forsome reason, they've been very
popular and I want to share them, and I hope that they will be a
blessing and encouragement toyou.
(02:33):
These are the podcasts I've hadthe most downloads on and also
I've had the most comments orquestions, and I think you enjoy
them.
The first one, the one that I'mgoing to show this week I
released it first in February of2023, and it's called Taking
Care of Yourself, so you CanTake Care of those you Love, and
it's just a general reminderthat you can take care of
(02:56):
yourself and others at the sametime, that God gives us enough
grace to do both, becausesometimes we think we have to
choose either or, and that's nottrue.
You know God's not going to asksomething of you and not give
you the grace to do it well and,at the same time, to take care
of yourself, because if you runout of energy, if you run out of
steam, if you run out ofyourself, then who's going to
(03:19):
take care of those that he's putyou in this world to help take
care of right.
So I hope that this podcast isa blessing to you.
I hope it's an encouragementand each week for the next five
weeks I'll pop on and I'll sayhello, kind of give you a little
update, and then I'll play anepisode from the past and I hope
and pray it's a blessing to you.
Now I'll still be around.
(03:40):
So if you have any questions,comments, if you'd like to touch
base with me, I would love tohear from you.
You can click in the show notes.
There is a link to text me amessage and I'd love to hear
from you.
I'd love to hear any questionsthat you have.
I'd love to hear anythingthat's been encouraging to you
from the podcast or from my blog.
Also, I will be posting blogposts regularly, even through
(04:05):
this break, and you can go tograceformyhomecom and check that
out.
And if you want to hear from meweekly, if you want to stay up
to date with the things that Ihave going on and the projects
that I'm working on, subscribeto my newsletter.
I send out a newsletter once aweek, just an update of what's
happening here, and I'd love tohear from you.
I'd love to have you, you, I'dlove to have you on that, so we
(04:26):
can stay in touch.
But, god bless, have a greatweek, enjoy.
Hello friends, welcome back toGrace From my Home.
I'm so glad to be back herewith you guys this week.
It is my heart to come andencourage you and hopefully
inspire you in your importantwork as a mom.
(04:48):
That is my heart, that's mydesire to each week, bring you
just a little encouragement tolet you know that you're not
alone, that God has a good planfor you and that he is on your
side, that he's cheering you onand I'm cheering you on too.
Just to give you a little recap,I think last time last week, I
(05:11):
told you that my husband and Iwere going to go on a marriage
retreat together.
Well, we didn't.
He got sick the day before wewere supposed to leave and he
had just a miserable weekend.
So we stayed home and I triedto take care of him, and I don't
know if I did a good job or not, but he did get better and so
(05:32):
he has gone back to work.
But we had to cancel ourretreat and we'll reschedule it.
But also, I think he felt badabout missing it because he is
supposed to go away for abusiness trip this coming
weekend and he's invited me togo with him.
So I told him, yes, I would go,I'll just hang out while he's
(05:52):
in his meetings and then atnight we'll get to spend time
together.
So, but just a little recap onwhat's going on here and I want
to talk with you this week.
I want to just share with yousome encouragement on taking
care of yourself and howimportant it is to take care of
(06:13):
you.
You know we as moms, sometimeswe can think you know, I've got
to take care of everybody elseand we get put on the back
burner and that's.
You know, we can do that for awhile, but it catches up with us
and I've learned the hard wayand that's usually how I learn
(06:33):
things, because I can be verystubborn and I've learned the
hard way that taking care of meis taking care of my family,
that unless I take care of me, Iam not going to be able to take
care of them.
So taking care of yourself isnot being selfish, it is being
(06:53):
wise, it's being mature and it'slearning, it's growing and we
have to learn, as moms, to takecare of ourselves.
You know, I think there is afalse belief that you know,
being a Christian means being,being selfless, and it means
just giving and giving andgiving until we don't have
(07:14):
anything left.
And it is important to give, itis important to be generous and
, you know, to give of ourselves, but we also have a
responsibility to take care ofourselves.
You know, we only have one body, we only have one mind, we only
have one life to live and Godhas given us this wonderful gift
(07:35):
.
And it's kind of like ifsomebody gives you a gift and
you treat it poorly, then youdon't really appreciate that
gift.
And so God has given you thegift of life.
He's given you a body, he'sgiven you responsibility to take
care of that body, to take careof your mind, to take care of
yourself so you can do thethings that he's called you to
(07:57):
do, so you can love the peoplethat he's put in your life to
love.
And years ago, just to give youa little story about me, I went
through a mini health crisis.
Now, I say a mini health crisisbecause I know people who have
gone through huge health crisesand they've been on chemo and
(08:20):
through all kinds of things.
Well, mine was not quite thatsevere, but it was enough to
make me wake up and say what amI doing?
How do I want to live my life?
In the same season I had heartsurgery.
I had hives all over my body,reacted to anything and
(08:41):
everything.
It seemed like I put in mymouth, I had kidney stones, my
thyroid went south.
It just knocked out on me and Iwas dealing with headaches and
all of this at the same time.
And it was a wake-up call forme Because all my life I had
(09:03):
been very healthy, rarely sick,and felt like I could do
anything I wanted to do andnever really had to pay the
consequences and never neededmuch sleep.
So when this season hit me itwas when I had little ones.
My boys were, they wereprobably, I think the oldest was
(09:24):
probably five, and so thatmeant I had a four-year-old and
a two-year-old.
And it was a very difficult,very hard season because I was
struggling, also because I wasstruggling with so many things
in my body.
I was struggling mentally and Ijust felt like I was falling
apart and I really had a lot ofanger issues.
(09:45):
Because I was strugglingmentally and I just felt like I
was falling apart and I reallyhad a lot of anger issues
because I had no energy, I wastired all the time.
And then I felt guilty becauseI was tired all the time and I
had little boys who wanted torun around and play and I just
wanted to get somewhere and sit.
And that was such a learningtime for me because I had to
(10:06):
come to terms with my ownlimitations.
I was not superwoman, but in mymind I was superwoman and in my
mind I was still in my 20s andcould do whatever I wanted to do
with very little consequences.
But here I am and I'm thinking,if I'm going to make it for the
long haul, like I'm in my I wasthinking I'm in my thirties If I
(10:27):
want to make it to my seventiesand still have, you know, an
enjoyable life, still able to dothings, then I didn't really
need to start thinking about myhealth, because when all these
things started happening, itjust seemed like they popped out
of nowhere.
But they hadn't.
You know, they were the fruitand there was a root.
(10:47):
And that root was that I neverthought about me ever, I mean
once I had kids.
See, I love time alone.
I am just by nature anintrovert.
I like to read, I like to thinkand I like to drink coffee when
nobody's around, right, andthat's when I journal and I like
to write, and that's just mynature.
(11:08):
Well, when kids came along, itseemed like that was gone.
That was a part of my life thatI would never get back and I
really grieved.
That was like a death for me.
So what I would do is I wouldstay up until everybody was in
bed, and that seemed impossible.
Sometimes you know how you putthem down and they're like they
(11:30):
just pop right back up.
I mean, I would wait untileverybody was asleep and I would
sit down with my coffee, withmy book, with my journal, with
my music playing, and that wouldbe my time.
And I would eventually fallasleep on the couch and wake up
at two in the morning andstumble into the bedroom and go
to bed.
And to me, I craved, I neededthat time, because I craved that
(11:58):
time alone.
But what I was doing was I wasgetting no sleep, I was getting
no rest and my body was justsaying no, I just refuse to keep
on going.
And not only that, but I neverthought about what I ate.
You know, I would cook for them, I would cook for my kids and I
would just eat a little bithere and there, and I wasn't
(12:19):
thinking about what my bodyneeded.
You know, exercise was justchasing them around.
I never thought, you know, Ishould take care of me, I should
go for a walk or I should dosomething, and I was frazzled.
Now maybe you're wiser than me,maybe you've never gotten to
that place, or maybe you're inthat place right now, but I
(12:41):
really had to have a come toJesus moment where I had to say
I don't want to wear out beforemy time.
I want to be a good mom.
I don't want to be the angry,mad, frustrated, tired mom.
I want to be a mom who has someenergy, who can do some things,
who has a smile on her facesometimes.
(13:04):
I don't want them to rememberchildhood as just me pulling
them through it and hoping toget them out of the house.
You know I wanted them to havememories of.
You know I had a fun mom.
She wasn't perfect, you know.
She had her moments, but we hada good time and so, by the
grace of the Lord, he helped meto start seeing things
(13:26):
differently, and he helped me togrow up and to mature, because
that was an area where I was notmature, that was an area where
I did not have his wisdom, andso, by his grace, he helped me
to find that wisdom and I wantedto share with you today just a
couple of things that duringthat time that helped me.
(13:47):
They're mostly mindset shiftsand I'm just going to share them
with you today in the hopesthat they will help you where
you are.
The first one is I had to cometo the realization that mature
people recognize their own needsand do what they need to do to
(14:08):
get those needs met.
Nobody was going to come in andmake me take care of me.
God had given me everything Ineeded, but I had to decide I'm
going to take care of myselfbecause I love these people, and
that's part of being a grown up.
(14:30):
That's part of being mature,you know, and that's part of
being a grown up.
That's part of being mature.
And somehow I just I justthought I can do it all and
there's no consequences, youknow, but I can't.
I am limited, and so are you,and you know it's kind of like
kids.
When kids are little.
We feed them, right, we?
They don't.
(14:50):
Even sometimes, when they'rebabies, they don't even know
they need food.
They just know oh, that's good,I like that.
We give them food and they'relike oh, yeah, that's good, but
they cry and they don't evenknow sometimes why they cry.
They don't even know whythey're hungry.
They just know that something'swrong, right.
And then, as they get older,they know they're hungry because
they can ask I want a snack, Iwant something to eat, but they
(15:12):
can't make that for themselves,right?
So we're there to help them,we're there to say it's time to
eat and here is your food.
But as they get older and theylearn to take care of themselves
, hopefully they learn to feedthemselves more, right, they
(15:32):
know where the snacks are orthey can make their own sandwich
.
And my goal is that one day,when my kids leave, they'll
actually be able to cook somethings for them.
I mean not gourmet meals, Imean just, hopefully, hot dogs.
Right, they can do somethingfor themselves.
They're not going to starvewhen they leave my house, and
that's how it is with us.
We have to first of allrecognize that we have needs,
(15:52):
acknowledge I have a need, andthen we have to learn that we
have.
God has given us the agency tomeet our needs and, yes, he
supplies all of our needs right,according to his riches and
glory, by Christ Jesus.
But he is not going to spoonfeed us when he's given us what
(16:16):
we need and we have to say I amworth taking care of.
So mature people recognize theyhave needs and they do what it
takes to meet those needs forthemselves.
Nobody's going to come in anddo it for us.
We have got to take care ofourselves.
(16:46):
Number two I had to realize Godhas given me free agency to
create a balanced and a healthylifestyle for me and for my
family.
You know, I can be kind andgenerous with myself.
I can be creative with how Itake care of me.
You know I don't have to livein perpetual craziness.
(17:07):
And that was a revelation forme because I thought being a mom
it just means I'm going to betired all the time, I'm gonna be
depleted all the time.
And I started realizing that alot not all of it, but a lot of
it was choice, because I haven't, I had not learned how to
(17:27):
create a balanced and a healthylifestyle for myself, much less
for my kids, right?
Because I hadn't done that formyself, I had no idea how to do
that for them, and so the Lordstarted showing me.
I give you permission to getyour life in order.
I give you permission to takecare of you.
(17:48):
I give you permission to thinkabout your own needs.
We can establish daily andweekly flows that serve our
families and it serves ourpriorities and where we can be
healthy.
Is that new for you?
I mean, is that revelation foryou?
Is that like completely newthought for you?
(18:11):
Because it was for me, you know, I I think I knew it in my mind
, but I never really thoughtthat I had the ability to create
a balanced life for us, andjust knowing that built hope in
me.
I thought, oh, I have a lot ofcontrol of these things that are
(18:31):
going on in my life.
Let me see what I can do.
You know how can I make thingsbetter?
And one of the ways I madethings better was I set routines
and I set structure.
I want to tell you I am not andthis is kind of a side note, a
little off topic I am not aschedule person.
(18:53):
I run from schedules, I rebelfrom schedules.
They make me feel confined.
I've never met a schedule thatI can keep, but I have learned
that there is a blessing inhaving a routine.
No, we don't.
(19:14):
We don't necessarily doeverything at the same time each
day, but our days flow prettymuch the same way each day, and
that gave me enough freedom thatI didn't feel confined, but it
gave me enough structure that Ididn't feel like I was shooting
from the hip all the time, andjust knowing that this is when
(19:35):
we're going to do this and thisis when we're going to do that
it made me feel like I had morecontrol.
And also it helped me toestablish a structure so that I
could take care of me.
And one of the things that weput in that flow was rest, see,
(19:58):
rest, and this is number three.
Rest should have an establishedplace in our life, in our day,
in our routine.
Now, by grace, we need to makea place for rest.
It needs to be a part of theebb and flow of our home, even
if it's not perfect.
It's not going to be perfect,but rest is so important that
(20:23):
God put it as one of the tencommandments, and I don't know
why he did that.
He's God, but I think it hassomething to do with the fact
that if he didn't make us, wewouldn't do it.
Rest is so important.
Jesus said, god made the Sabbathfor man, not the man for
(20:43):
Sabbath.
I mean, he made the Sabbath forus.
He gave us rest because he knewwe needed it.
Our bodies cannot go and go andgo and go, and neither can our
minds.
There's times we have to turnour mind off.
When we don't, when we keepgoing and going and going, then
things get really negative.
(21:06):
And I found that when I didn'trest, when I didn't take care of
me, when I felt like everythingwas crazy, then I got really
resentful because I felt likeI'm giving and I'm giving and
I'm giving and it's never enough.
And see, my needs weren't beingmet.
And so I was resentful at thosewho looked to me to meet their
(21:31):
needs, because I'm taking careof everybody else's needs but my
needs aren't being met.
And so I was resentful.
And it wasn't their fault, itwas my fault, because I didn't
know to take care of me firstand then I would have enough
left over for them.
And it's not perfect.
I don't want to paint thispicture perfect, ideal.
(21:53):
It's not perfect, it's alwaysin process, but it's good.
These are principles.
They're not rules, right?
They're not laws.
They're principles that, whenwe apply them, they help us to
bring order to our home andpeace to our mind.
Number four is busy seasons willalways come, but they don't
(22:19):
have to send us in a spiral ofcraziness and chaos.
See, we're going to have busyseasons and we get through them,
and then we have to go back toorder.
We have to press the resetbutton and say, okay, you know
it's kind of like, hold yourbreath, okay, we're going to get
through this and then we'regoing back to order.
(22:40):
You know, recently I've sharedwith you guys about, you know,
the weeks that we've had.
We've had four weeks of nonstoptravel, actually three, because
me and my husband didn't travelthis last week when we were
supposed to, but we're travelingnext week, so so it's just been
a very busy season and a lot oftime during those seasons.
(23:01):
You know, it's like we justwe're going to get through them
and then we're going back toorder.
But see, if you don't have anorder set to go back to, you
don't have, you don't haveanywhere to go, you don't have
anywhere to go, you don't have aplan.
But when you've got a plan,then you can go back to the plan
, even when you had to take adetour for a little while.
You know, monday is a reset dayfor me, it's just reset, I know.
(23:23):
You know, after the weekendthings are, they're different.
Right, I wash a load of clothesat least one load of clothes.
Right, I wash a load of clothesat least one load of clothes
every day, because if I don't,it is.
I mean, it's a mile high, it'sa mountain.
Now I don't wash on Sunday,that's my rest day.
(23:49):
So Monday I'm back at it and seeon Monday that you know,
everybody is trying to get backin routine and that's when I try
to reestablish our patterns,our routine.
It's not perfect, it doesn'tlook great, but in my mind
that's a day for grace.
That's a day to give myselfgrace.
We've been off of our schedule,we've been out of our routine.
So today we're going to reset.
But it's not going to beperfect, it's a mindset.
(24:10):
Today we're back on track andwe have to do that after seasons
too.
See, I'm coming up next weekwhen we're coming off of this
really, really busy season.
Now there'll be other things.
You know, sports is starting up.
It's going to be crazy, I knowthat.
But I'm thinking okay, ourtravel season is over, reset,
(24:30):
and it gives me grace to say youknow what, we've been off of
routine.
But let's get back on routine,let's create order here.
And that's what we get to do asmoms, you know, and it's a
blessing, it's a blessing to usand it's a blessing for our
family and they can't do it forthemselves and it's not easy for
(24:51):
us.
But I will tell you, it makes adifference.
When we decide, you know, we'regoing to feel in control here.
We're not going to be crazyhere.
We're not living in the chaos,you know, we're bringing it into
order.
God told Adam and Eve subdue it.
Here's the world Now.
(25:12):
Subdue it.
You know, bring it into order.
And that's what we do in ourhomes.
Number five is when I need it.
I ask for help and Iacknowledge my own limitations
when I say it's your job torecognize your needs and meet
(25:32):
your needs.
I also recognize that there aresome times when we need outside
help and you don't have to beashamed to ask for that outside
help.
You know, god has made ussocial creatures.
There are times when we needpeople, when we need each other,
and that's okay.
You know, I think in today'sworld we're so far removed a lot
(25:57):
of times from our families andfrom the way that things used to
be, when there were bigfamilies and they lived close to
each other, that you naturallyhad a support system, that today
we feel so isolated and aloneand sometimes we feel like it's
wrong to ask for help and wedon't have people close enough
(26:18):
to see that we need help andjump in.
So sometimes we have to bewilling to be vulnerable and say
, hey, I need some help.
I'm very blessed in that I havea support system close to me.
I live close to my mom and mymother in law and they will help
me when I ask.
But I know a lot of you don't.
Find some people, connect withsome people.
(26:41):
Find a friend who has kidsabout the same age as yours and
partner with them.
Partner with them, work withthem, have days when you trade
off with each other.
Maybe you give her a couple ofhours one day and then the next
week she'll give you a couple ofhours.
(27:01):
You know we all have doctor'sappointments we need to go to.
You know I had gotten so badthat I didn't go to my doctor's
appointments because I was justtoo busy and I really needed to
go.
But I thought, oh, I'll be fine, and I wasn't fine.
So we all need somebody.
We need somebody to watch thekids while we go to the doctor.
Right, go to the doctor anddon't only go to the doctor, but
(27:27):
after the doctor, go, sit downwith a cup of coffee for 20
minutes and drink that coffeesurrounded by adults.
You know, if that's your thing,if that's not your thing, go to
the mall, go to your favoritestore and walk around for 20
minutes and just be an adult.
(27:47):
Buy yourself something.
If you see something, buyyourself something.
Take care of you the way youwould take care of somebody you
care about, and you are puttingfuel in your tank.
And it will be a blessing notjust to you, but when you come
home smiling, when you come homehappy, when you have extra
(28:10):
energy, it will be a blessing toyour family.
And the sixth principle that Iwant to share with you is commit
to growing in wisdom and gracein this area of taking care of
yourself and meeting your ownneeds.
It's not one and done, it's notsomething that we say, okay,
(28:34):
I've got that, I'll do that.
It's constantly working it out.
It's a journey to learn how totake care of yourself.
I have to keep reminding myselfthis.
I have to keep doing this totake care of yourself.
I have to keep reminding myselfthis.
I have to keep doing this.
I'll go through seasons whereyou know I just I don't have the
time that I did have.
Or you know, I've got a lot ofresponsibilities in this certain
(28:54):
time period and when that timeperiod is over, I'll forget to
take care of me because I'vebeen so focused on everybody
else.
And see, it sounds selfish, butit's the most unselfish thing
you can do, because you'retaking care of the one who takes
care of everyone.
You weren't meant to be amartyr for your family.
(29:18):
You were meant to be a blessing.
And if we develop that martyrmentality, nobody wants to be
around us, right?
If it's always like woe is me,look how much I do, nobody knows
.
Nobody wants to be around thatperson.
You know I don't even want tobe around myself when I'm like
that.
As a mom, you set the tone ofyour home.
(29:40):
I know dads do too.
I know that dads can play a bigpart in this.
But as a leader in your home,you have huge influence over the
atmosphere of your home, and ifyou're wore out and you're
tired and you're irritable allthe time, ain't nobody happy in
that house.
Ask me how I know.
(30:02):
Ask me how I know.
This past week somethinghappened and I didn't like it.
And my son Luke?
He told me that night.
He said I thought today wasgoing to be a bad day.
And I said well, why?
He said because I saw your facewhen that happened.
(30:24):
And I said well, why would thatmake it a bad day?
He said because when you have abad day, we all have a bad day.
He told me that he's 15 yearsold and he's very smart.
But it was eye-opening for me.
I said, honey, I'm sorry.
I said I don't mean to ruinyour day with my nasty attitude,
(30:46):
but he said it in jest.
But there was truth in theretoo.
There was truth in there tooand I want to encourage you
today.
Think about these things.
I don't know if anything herehit home for you.
Maybe this is common knowledgefor you.
It was not for me.
You Maybe this is commonknowledge for you.
(31:09):
It was not for me, but God hasgiven us so much freedom to
create a beautiful life, tocreate a life that we would want
to live and not just endure.
We can change our minds, we canbe new people, we can enjoy
this life we've been given, butwe have to let go of the
mindsets that we've been.
Maybe they've been passed downto us, maybe we've learned them,
(31:31):
maybe we've just never beentaught.
I just thought that you know itwas normal to struggle and
struggle and struggle.
And don't get me wrong, being amom is hard.
It is hard work.
It's not easy, it's never goingto be easy.
But you know what the Biblealso says this is the day the
Lord has made.
I will rejoice and be glad init and we can decide to do that,
(31:52):
amen.
I want to encourage you.
If this has been a blessing toyou or any of my episodes have
been a blessing to you, gosubscribe to my blog, because I
send out emails.
I try to send them out weekly,sometimes more than weekly, and
it's the same kind of contentthat I share here on my podcast.
(32:13):
So if this is something that isencouraging to you, please go
to my blog, graceformyhomecom,and subscribe.
Get on that email list and I'llbe getting in touch with you.
But before I let you go today, Ido want to pray for you and
believe with you for good things.
Father, I thank you that youare gracious and compassionate,
(32:35):
you are slow to anger and youabound in love.
God, I pray that you wouldteach us wisdom, that we would
be wise and mature, that youwould help us to recognize our
need for you and Lord, our needfor rest and our need, oh God,
just to unplug sometimes.
Help us to take care of us byLord, using wise principles.
(32:58):
Help us to be women of wisdom.
Lord, help us to care aboutwhat goes in our bodies.
Lord, help us to take care ofourselves so we can take care of
these you've put in our homes.
Lord, we love you and we thankyou for your grace, in Jesus
name, amen.
Hello friend, welcome back to Grace.
For my Home, I'm AudreyMcCracken and I'm so glad to be
back with you again this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We have some exciting thingsgoing on here.
My oldest son will begraduating high school in a few
weeks and that warms my heartbecause, as a former homeschool
(00:20):
mom we made it I feel like I'mgraduating as well.
But he has.
He entered high school hisfreshman year after being
homeschooled for his entire lifeand he did great.
He did well.
You know, it was his decisionand he has.
He has done a great job andhe's had so many experiences in
high school that I believe hasprepared him for the next step,
(00:43):
and that is university.
He's going to university in thefall, and we for the next step,
and that is university.
He's going to university in thefall, and we're excited about
that as well.
And then his brother's right onhis heels.
His younger brother willgraduate next year.
So at least you know, at leastI will have been through this
once.
Right now I'm trying to figureit out.
I feel like I'm walking aroundin the dark trying to figure out
all of the pieces, and you knowI'm very proud of him.
(01:05):
We all are.
We're very proud of David andhis accomplishments and excited
about what the Lord has for him.
Also, I'm working on a lot ofprojects, some things that I
have shared with you guys alongand along.
One of the biggest projects I'mworking on right now is I am
going to release a dailydevotional podcast, a quick five
(01:27):
, 10 minute podcast during theweekdays to give you a little
encouragement for your day.
This is something that I havewanted to do for a long time and
I finally got up the courage todo it, finally decided hey, I'm
just going to do this.
This has been on my heart, itwon't leave me and I really want
to do this.
I'm been on my heart, it won'tleave me and I really want to do
this.
I'm working on that nail, andI'm also working on my second
(01:49):
book, and I have a Bible studythat's floating around in my
head that I need to get out ofmy head and get it.
You know, get it into the realworld.
And so I have a lot of projectsI want to work on and I need
some time to make some traction.
So what I've decided to do isto do something a little
different Over the next fiveweeks, I'm going to share with
(02:12):
you one of my most popularpodcast episodes from Grace From
my Home.
In the past three years.
I've been doing this, coming upnow three years, and so I have
some podcasts that have just forsome reason, they've been very
popular and I want to share them, and I hope that they will be a
blessing and encouragement toyou.
(02:33):
These are the podcasts I've hadthe most downloads on and also
I've had the most comments orquestions, and I think you enjoy
them.
The first one, the one that I'mgoing to show this week I
released it first in February of2023, and it's called Taking
Care of Yourself, so you CanTake Care of those you Love, and
it's just a general reminderthat you can take care of
(02:56):
yourself and others at the sametime, that God gives us enough
grace to do both, becausesometimes we think we have to
choose either or, and that's nottrue.
You know God's not going to asksomething of you and not give
you the grace to do it well and,at the same time, to take care
of yourself, because if you runout of energy, if you run out of
steam, if you run out ofyourself, then who's going to
(03:19):
take care of those that he's putyou in this world to help take
care of right.
So I hope that this podcast isa blessing to you.
I hope it's an encouragementand each week for the next five
weeks I'll pop on and I'll sayhello, kind of give you a little
update, and then I'll play anepisode from the past and I hope
and pray it's a blessing to you.
Now I'll still be around.
(03:40):
So if you have any questions,comments, if you'd like to touch
base with me, I would love tohear from you.
You can click in the show notes.
There is a link to text me amessage and I'd love to hear
from you.
I'd love to hear any questionsthat you have.
I'd love to hear anythingthat's been encouraging to you
from the podcast or from my blog.
Also, I will be posting blogposts regularly, even through
(04:05):
this break, and you can go tograceformyhomecom and check that
out.
And if you want to hear from meweekly, if you want to stay up
to date with the things that Ihave going on and the projects
that I'm working on, subscribeto my newsletter.
I send out a newsletter once aweek, just an update of what's
happening here, and I'd love tohear from you.
I'd love to have you, you, I'dlove to have you on that, so we
(04:26):
can stay in touch.
But, god bless, have a greatweek, enjoy.
Hello friends, welcome back toGrace From my Home.
I'm so glad to be back herewith you guys this week.
It is my heart to come andencourage you and hopefully
inspire you in your importantwork as a mom.
(04:48):
That is my heart, that's mydesire to each week, bring you
just a little encouragement tolet you know that you're not
alone, that God has a good planfor you and that he is on your
side, that he's cheering you onand I'm cheering you on too.
Just to give you a little recap,I think last time last week, I
(05:11):
told you that my husband and Iwere going to go on a marriage
retreat together.
Well, we didn't.
He got sick the day before wewere supposed to leave and he
had just a miserable weekend.
So we stayed home and I triedto take care of him, and I don't
know if I did a good job or not, but he did get better and so
(05:32):
he has gone back to work.
But we had to cancel ourretreat and we'll reschedule it.
But also, I think he felt badabout missing it because he is
supposed to go away for abusiness trip this coming
weekend and he's invited me togo with him.
So I told him, yes, I would go,I'll just hang out while he's
(05:52):
in his meetings and then atnight we'll get to spend time
together.
So, but just a little recap onwhat's going on here and I want
to talk with you this week.
I want to just share with yousome encouragement on taking
care of yourself and howimportant it is to take care of
(06:13):
you.
You know we as moms, sometimeswe can think you know, I've got
to take care of everybody elseand we get put on the back
burner and that's.
You know, we can do that for awhile, but it catches up with us
and I've learned the hard wayand that's usually how I learn
(06:33):
things, because I can be verystubborn and I've learned the
hard way that taking care of meis taking care of my family,
that unless I take care of me, Iam not going to be able to take
care of them.
So taking care of yourself isnot being selfish, it is being
(06:53):
wise, it's being mature and it'slearning, it's growing and we
have to learn, as moms, to takecare of ourselves.
You know, I think there is afalse belief that you know,
being a Christian means being,being selfless, and it means
just giving and giving andgiving until we don't have
(07:14):
anything left.
And it is important to give, itis important to be generous and
, you know, to give of ourselves, but we also have a
responsibility to take care ofourselves.
You know, we only have one body, we only have one mind, we only
have one life to live and Godhas given us this wonderful gift
(07:35):
.
And it's kind of like ifsomebody gives you a gift and
you treat it poorly, then youdon't really appreciate that
gift.
And so God has given you thegift of life.
He's given you a body, he'sgiven you responsibility to take
care of that body, to take careof your mind, to take care of
yourself so you can do thethings that he's called you to
(07:57):
do, so you can love the peoplethat he's put in your life to
love.
And years ago, just to give youa little story about me, I went
through a mini health crisis.
Now, I say a mini health crisisbecause I know people who have
gone through huge health crisesand they've been on chemo and
(08:20):
through all kinds of things.
Well, mine was not quite thatsevere, but it was enough to
make me wake up and say what amI doing?
How do I want to live my life?
In the same season I had heartsurgery.
I had hives all over my body,reacted to anything and
(08:41):
everything.
It seemed like I put in mymouth, I had kidney stones, my
thyroid went south.
It just knocked out on me and Iwas dealing with headaches and
all of this at the same time.
And it was a wake-up call forme Because all my life I had
(09:03):
been very healthy, rarely sick,and felt like I could do
anything I wanted to do andnever really had to pay the
consequences and never neededmuch sleep.
So when this season hit me itwas when I had little ones.
My boys were, they wereprobably, I think the oldest was
(09:24):
probably five, and so thatmeant I had a four-year-old and
a two-year-old.
And it was a very difficult,very hard season because I was
struggling, also because I wasstruggling with so many things
in my body.
I was struggling mentally and Ijust felt like I was falling
apart and I really had a lot ofanger issues.
(09:45):
Because I was strugglingmentally and I just felt like I
was falling apart and I reallyhad a lot of anger issues
because I had no energy, I wastired all the time.
And then I felt guilty becauseI was tired all the time and I
had little boys who wanted torun around and play and I just
wanted to get somewhere and sit.
And that was such a learningtime for me because I had to
(10:06):
come to terms with my ownlimitations.
I was not superwoman, but in mymind I was superwoman and in my
mind I was still in my 20s andcould do whatever I wanted to do
with very little consequences.
But here I am and I'm thinking,if I'm going to make it for the
long haul, like I'm in my I wasthinking I'm in my thirties If I
(10:27):
want to make it to my seventiesand still have, you know, an
enjoyable life, still able to dothings, then I didn't really
need to start thinking about myhealth, because when all these
things started happening, itjust seemed like they popped out
of nowhere.
But they hadn't.
You know, they were the fruitand there was a root.
(10:47):
And that root was that I neverthought about me ever, I mean
once I had kids.
See, I love time alone.
I am just by nature anintrovert.
I like to read, I like to thinkand I like to drink coffee when
nobody's around, right, andthat's when I journal and I like
to write, and that's just mynature.
(11:08):
Well, when kids came along, itseemed like that was gone.
That was a part of my life thatI would never get back and I
really grieved.
That was like a death for me.
So what I would do is I wouldstay up until everybody was in
bed, and that seemed impossible.
Sometimes you know how you putthem down and they're like they
(11:30):
just pop right back up.
I mean, I would wait untileverybody was asleep and I would
sit down with my coffee, withmy book, with my journal, with
my music playing, and that wouldbe my time.
And I would eventually fallasleep on the couch and wake up
at two in the morning andstumble into the bedroom and go
to bed.
And to me, I craved, I neededthat time, because I craved that
(11:58):
time alone.
But what I was doing was I wasgetting no sleep, I was getting
no rest and my body was justsaying no, I just refuse to keep
on going.
And not only that, but I neverthought about what I ate.
You know, I would cook for them, I would cook for my kids and I
would just eat a little bithere and there, and I wasn't
(12:19):
thinking about what my bodyneeded.
You know, exercise was justchasing them around.
I never thought, you know, Ishould take care of me, I should
go for a walk or I should dosomething, and I was frazzled.
Now maybe you're wiser than me,maybe you've never gotten to
that place, or maybe you're inthat place right now, but I
(12:41):
really had to have a come toJesus moment where I had to say
I don't want to wear out beforemy time.
I want to be a good mom.
I don't want to be the angry,mad, frustrated, tired mom.
I want to be a mom who has someenergy, who can do some things,
who has a smile on her facesometimes.
(13:04):
I don't want them to rememberchildhood as just me pulling
them through it and hoping toget them out of the house.
You know I wanted them to havememories of.
You know I had a fun mom.
She wasn't perfect, you know.
She had her moments, but we hada good time and so, by the
grace of the Lord, he helped meto start seeing things
(13:26):
differently, and he helped me togrow up and to mature, because
that was an area where I was notmature, that was an area where
I did not have his wisdom, andso, by his grace, he helped me
to find that wisdom and I wantedto share with you today just a
couple of things that duringthat time that helped me.
(13:47):
They're mostly mindset shiftsand I'm just going to share them
with you today in the hopesthat they will help you where
you are.
The first one is I had to cometo the realization that mature
people recognize their own needsand do what they need to do to
(14:08):
get those needs met.
Nobody was going to come in andmake me take care of me.
God had given me everything Ineeded, but I had to decide I'm
going to take care of myselfbecause I love these people, and
that's part of being a grown up.
(14:30):
That's part of being mature,you know, and that's part of
being a grown up.
That's part of being mature.
And somehow I just I justthought I can do it all and
there's no consequences, youknow, but I can't.
I am limited, and so are you,and you know it's kind of like
kids.
When kids are little.
We feed them, right, we?
They don't.
(14:50):
Even sometimes, when they'rebabies, they don't even know
they need food.
They just know oh, that's good,I like that.
We give them food and they'relike oh, yeah, that's good, but
they cry and they don't evenknow sometimes why they cry.
They don't even know whythey're hungry.
They just know that something'swrong, right.
And then, as they get older,they know they're hungry because
they can ask I want a snack, Iwant something to eat, but they
(15:12):
can't make that for themselves,right?
So we're there to help them,we're there to say it's time to
eat and here is your food.
But as they get older and theylearn to take care of themselves
, hopefully they learn to feedthemselves more, right, they
(15:32):
know where the snacks are orthey can make their own sandwich
.
And my goal is that one day,when my kids leave, they'll
actually be able to cook somethings for them.
I mean not gourmet meals, Imean just, hopefully, hot dogs.
Right, they can do somethingfor themselves.
They're not going to starvewhen they leave my house, and
that's how it is with us.
We have to first of allrecognize that we have needs,
(15:52):
acknowledge I have a need, andthen we have to learn that we
have.
God has given us the agency tomeet our needs and, yes, he
supplies all of our needs right,according to his riches and
glory, by Christ Jesus.
But he is not going to spoonfeed us when he's given us what
(16:16):
we need and we have to say I amworth taking care of.
So mature people recognize theyhave needs and they do what it
takes to meet those needs forthemselves.
Nobody's going to come in anddo it for us.
We have got to take care ofourselves.
(16:46):
Number two I had to realize Godhas given me free agency to
create a balanced and a healthylifestyle for me and for my
family.
You know, I can be kind andgenerous with myself.
I can be creative with how Itake care of me.
You know I don't have to livein perpetual craziness.
(17:07):
And that was a revelation forme because I thought being a mom
it just means I'm going to betired all the time, I'm gonna be
depleted all the time.
And I started realizing that alot not all of it, but a lot of
it was choice, because I haven't, I had not learned how to
(17:27):
create a balanced and a healthylifestyle for myself, much less
for my kids, right?
Because I hadn't done that formyself, I had no idea how to do
that for them, and so the Lordstarted showing me.
I give you permission to getyour life in order.
I give you permission to takecare of you.
(17:48):
I give you permission to thinkabout your own needs.
We can establish daily andweekly flows that serve our
families and it serves ourpriorities and where we can be
healthy.
Is that new for you?
I mean, is that revelation foryou?
Is that like completely newthought for you?
(18:11):
Because it was for me, you know, I I think I knew it in my mind
, but I never really thoughtthat I had the ability to create
a balanced life for us, andjust knowing that built hope in
me.
I thought, oh, I have a lot ofcontrol of these things that are
(18:31):
going on in my life.
Let me see what I can do.
You know how can I make thingsbetter?
And one of the ways I madethings better was I set routines
and I set structure.
I want to tell you I am not andthis is kind of a side note, a
little off topic I am not aschedule person.
(18:53):
I run from schedules, I rebelfrom schedules.
They make me feel confined.
I've never met a schedule thatI can keep, but I have learned
that there is a blessing inhaving a routine.
No, we don't.
(19:14):
We don't necessarily doeverything at the same time each
day, but our days flow prettymuch the same way each day, and
that gave me enough freedom thatI didn't feel confined, but it
gave me enough structure that Ididn't feel like I was shooting
from the hip all the time, andjust knowing that this is when
(19:35):
we're going to do this and thisis when we're going to do that
it made me feel like I had morecontrol.
And also it helped me toestablish a structure so that I
could take care of me.
And one of the things that weput in that flow was rest, see,
(19:58):
rest, and this is number three.
Rest should have an establishedplace in our life, in our day,
in our routine.
Now, by grace, we need to makea place for rest.
It needs to be a part of theebb and flow of our home, even
if it's not perfect.
It's not going to be perfect,but rest is so important that
(20:23):
God put it as one of the tencommandments, and I don't know
why he did that.
He's God, but I think it hassomething to do with the fact
that if he didn't make us, wewouldn't do it.
Rest is so important.
Jesus said, god made the Sabbathfor man, not the man for
(20:43):
Sabbath.
I mean, he made the Sabbath forus.
He gave us rest because he knewwe needed it.
Our bodies cannot go and go andgo and go, and neither can our
minds.
There's times we have to turnour mind off.
When we don't, when we keepgoing and going and going, then
things get really negative.
(21:06):
And I found that when I didn'trest, when I didn't take care of
me, when I felt like everythingwas crazy, then I got really
resentful because I felt likeI'm giving and I'm giving and
I'm giving and it's never enough.
And see, my needs weren't beingmet.
And so I was resentful at thosewho looked to me to meet their
(21:31):
needs, because I'm taking careof everybody else's needs but my
needs aren't being met.
And so I was resentful.
And it wasn't their fault, itwas my fault, because I didn't
know to take care of me firstand then I would have enough
left over for them.
And it's not perfect.
I don't want to paint thispicture perfect, ideal.
(21:53):
It's not perfect, it's alwaysin process, but it's good.
These are principles.
They're not rules, right?
They're not laws.
They're principles that, whenwe apply them, they help us to
bring order to our home andpeace to our mind.
Number four is busy seasons willalways come, but they don't
(22:19):
have to send us in a spiral ofcraziness and chaos.
See, we're going to have busyseasons and we get through them,
and then we have to go back toorder.
We have to press the resetbutton and say, okay, you know
it's kind of like, hold yourbreath, okay, we're going to get
through this and then we'regoing back to order.
(22:40):
You know, recently I've sharedwith you guys about, you know,
the weeks that we've had.
We've had four weeks of nonstoptravel, actually three, because
me and my husband didn't travelthis last week when we were
supposed to, but we're travelingnext week, so so it's just been
a very busy season and a lot oftime during those seasons.
(23:01):
You know, it's like we justwe're going to get through them
and then we're going back toorder.
But see, if you don't have anorder set to go back to, you
don't have, you don't haveanywhere to go, you don't have
anywhere to go, you don't have aplan.
But when you've got a plan,then you can go back to the plan
, even when you had to take adetour for a little while.
You know, monday is a reset dayfor me, it's just reset, I know.
(23:23):
You know, after the weekendthings are, they're different.
Right, I wash a load of clothesat least one load of clothes.
Right, I wash a load of clothesat least one load of clothes
every day, because if I don't,it is.
I mean, it's a mile high, it'sa mountain.
Now I don't wash on Sunday,that's my rest day.
(23:49):
So Monday I'm back at it and seeon Monday that you know,
everybody is trying to get backin routine and that's when I try
to reestablish our patterns,our routine.
It's not perfect, it doesn'tlook great, but in my mind
that's a day for grace.
That's a day to give myselfgrace.
We've been off of our schedule,we've been out of our routine.
So today we're going to reset.
But it's not going to beperfect, it's a mindset.
(24:10):
Today we're back on track andwe have to do that after seasons
too.
See, I'm coming up next weekwhen we're coming off of this
really, really busy season.
Now there'll be other things.
You know, sports is starting up.
It's going to be crazy, I knowthat.
But I'm thinking okay, ourtravel season is over, reset,
(24:30):
and it gives me grace to say youknow what, we've been off of
routine.
But let's get back on routine,let's create order here.
And that's what we get to do asmoms, you know, and it's a
blessing, it's a blessing to usand it's a blessing for our
family and they can't do it forthemselves and it's not easy for
(24:51):
us.
But I will tell you, it makes adifference.
When we decide, you know, we'regoing to feel in control here.
We're not going to be crazyhere.
We're not living in the chaos,you know, we're bringing it into
order.
God told Adam and Eve subdue it.
Here's the world Now.
(25:12):
Subdue it.
You know, bring it into order.
And that's what we do in ourhomes.
Number five is when I need it.
I ask for help and Iacknowledge my own limitations
when I say it's your job torecognize your needs and meet
(25:32):
your needs.
I also recognize that there aresome times when we need outside
help and you don't have to beashamed to ask for that outside
help.
You know, god has made ussocial creatures.
There are times when we needpeople, when we need each other,
and that's okay.
You know, I think in today'sworld we're so far removed a lot
(25:57):
of times from our families andfrom the way that things used to
be, when there were bigfamilies and they lived close to
each other, that you naturallyhad a support system, that today
we feel so isolated and aloneand sometimes we feel like it's
wrong to ask for help and wedon't have people close enough
(26:18):
to see that we need help andjump in.
So sometimes we have to bewilling to be vulnerable and say
, hey, I need some help.
I'm very blessed in that I havea support system close to me.
I live close to my mom and mymother in law and they will help
me when I ask.
But I know a lot of you don't.
Find some people, connect withsome people.
(26:41):
Find a friend who has kidsabout the same age as yours and
partner with them.
Partner with them, work withthem, have days when you trade
off with each other.
Maybe you give her a couple ofhours one day and then the next
week she'll give you a couple ofhours.
(27:01):
You know we all have doctor'sappointments we need to go to.
You know I had gotten so badthat I didn't go to my doctor's
appointments because I was justtoo busy and I really needed to
go.
But I thought, oh, I'll be fine, and I wasn't fine.
So we all need somebody.
We need somebody to watch thekids while we go to the doctor.
Right, go to the doctor anddon't only go to the doctor, but
(27:27):
after the doctor, go, sit downwith a cup of coffee for 20
minutes and drink that coffeesurrounded by adults.
You know, if that's your thing,if that's not your thing, go to
the mall, go to your favoritestore and walk around for 20
minutes and just be an adult.
(27:47):
Buy yourself something.
If you see something, buyyourself something.
Take care of you the way youwould take care of somebody you
care about, and you are puttingfuel in your tank.
And it will be a blessing notjust to you, but when you come
home smiling, when you come homehappy, when you have extra
(28:10):
energy, it will be a blessing toyour family.
And the sixth principle that Iwant to share with you is commit
to growing in wisdom and gracein this area of taking care of
yourself and meeting your ownneeds.
It's not one and done, it's notsomething that we say, okay,
(28:34):
I've got that, I'll do that.
It's constantly working it out.
It's a journey to learn how totake care of yourself.
I have to keep reminding myselfthis.
I have to keep doing this totake care of yourself.
I have to keep reminding myselfthis.
I have to keep doing this.
I'll go through seasons whereyou know I just I don't have the
time that I did have.
Or you know, I've got a lot ofresponsibilities in this certain
(28:54):
time period and when that timeperiod is over, I'll forget to
take care of me because I'vebeen so focused on everybody
else.
And see, it sounds selfish, butit's the most unselfish thing
you can do, because you'retaking care of the one who takes
care of everyone.
You weren't meant to be amartyr for your family.
(29:18):
You were meant to be a blessing.
And if we develop that martyrmentality, nobody wants to be
around us, right?
If it's always like woe is me,look how much I do, nobody knows
.
Nobody wants to be around thatperson.
You know I don't even want tobe around myself when I'm like
that.
As a mom, you set the tone ofyour home.
(29:40):
I know dads do too.
I know that dads can play a bigpart in this.
But as a leader in your home,you have huge influence over the
atmosphere of your home, and ifyou're wore out and you're
tired and you're irritable allthe time, ain't nobody happy in
that house.
Ask me how I know.
(30:02):
Ask me how I know.
This past week somethinghappened and I didn't like it.
And my son Luke?
He told me that night.
He said I thought today wasgoing to be a bad day.
And I said well, why?
He said because I saw your facewhen that happened.
(30:24):
And I said well, why would thatmake it a bad day?
He said because when you have abad day, we all have a bad day.
He told me that he's 15 yearsold and he's very smart.
But it was eye-opening for me.
I said, honey, I'm sorry.
I said I don't mean to ruinyour day with my nasty attitude,
(30:46):
but he said it in jest.
But there was truth in theretoo.
There was truth in there tooand I want to encourage you
today.
Think about these things.
I don't know if anything herehit home for you.
Maybe this is common knowledgefor you.
It was not for me.
You Maybe this is commonknowledge for you.
(31:09):
It was not for me, but God hasgiven us so much freedom to
create a beautiful life, tocreate a life that we would want
to live and not just endure.
We can change our minds, we canbe new people, we can enjoy
this life we've been given, butwe have to let go of the
mindsets that we've been.
Maybe they've been passed downto us, maybe we've learned them,
(31:31):
maybe we've just never beentaught.
I just thought that you know itwas normal to struggle and
struggle and struggle.
And don't get me wrong, being amom is hard.
It is hard work.
It's not easy, it's never goingto be easy.
But you know what the Biblealso says this is the day the
Lord has made.
I will rejoice and be glad init and we can decide to do that,
(31:52):
amen.
I want to encourage you.
If this has been a blessing toyou or any of my episodes have
been a blessing to you, gosubscribe to my blog, because I
send out emails.
I try to send them out weekly,sometimes more than weekly, and
it's the same kind of contentthat I share here on my podcast.
(32:13):
So if this is something that isencouraging to you, please go
to my blog, graceformyhomecom,and subscribe.
Get on that email list and I'llbe getting in touch with you.
But before I let you go today, Ido want to pray for you and
believe with you for good things.
Father, I thank you that youare gracious and compassionate,
(32:35):
you are slow to anger and youabound in love.
God, I pray that you wouldteach us wisdom, that we would
be wise and mature, that youwould help us to recognize our
need for you and Lord, our needfor rest and our need, oh God,
just to unplug sometimes.
Help us to take care of us byLord, using wise principles.
(32:58):
Help us to be women of wisdom.
Lord, help us to care aboutwhat goes in our bodies.
Lord, help us to take care ofourselves so we can take care of
these you've put in our homes.
Lord, we love you and we thankyou for your grace, in Jesus
name, amen.
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