Katie Westenberg

I Choose Brave

Running on Empty: Hope for When You are Feeling Drained…and Something New!

by Katie

Some days, as the end of the day draws near, I feel nothing short of spent.  The long hours of cooking and cleaning, of chauffeuring and teaching, correcting and mentoring and refereeing, let alone any side gigs I am nursing along, leave me feeling drained and empty.  It’s a whole new dimension of tired.  Mama tired.

I see bedtime, their bedtime, as a pot of gold at the end of a long day.  Rest, reprieve.

But the pre-teen starts feeling chatty and wants to go deep. “Can we talk about forgiveness, mom?  What exactly do you think about the war on terror?”  The 3 year old needs another drink, another hug, another prayer.  And those girls who share a room pretty much never stop talking.

The siren in my head goes off “Enough.  No more.  No more drinks.  No more chatting and no more prayers!”  It’s not pretty.

Weak and weary mom. Exhausted mom, tired mom. I hear you. This job, it's tough. Really, tough. And tiring. Oh, so tiring. But there is a source of strength that is a game changer. It is indeed possible to mother well when you are feeling drained. Here is the hope you need to do this job well, when you are feeling drained.

 

I hate these moments – the days that start so well, so much energy, so many smiles, yet end with frustration, a weary mom short on grace and patience.  These aren’t the covers I want to tuck these kids into, these aren’t the hot words I want them to snuggle up in, find rest with.

But running on empty is real. The “I can’t handle one more kid out of bed right now”, it’s real.  Mama tired is real.  Continue reading here.

 

Friends, I am pleased to tell you that I’m the newest contributor over at Mothers of Daughters, a group of women dedicated to providing timeless truth to modern moms. It’s quite the brilliant and lovely community with an impressive team of writers who I feel pretty blessed just to be associated with.

I do hope you will join me over there today as I discuss hope in those weary and worn out moments of motherhood – mothering well, when you are running on empty.  This may be just the multivitamin you need today.

Loving Christ is the key to loving our kids well.

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Comments

  1. Jenny says

    Spot on, Katie. Bedtime is exactly when tweens (and teens) decide to start deep, life-changing conversations. I always feel so guilty for not taking full advantage of these moments. But good grief! Can we do this over coffee in the morning?!!
    It seems to me that the days that start off the best and with the most energy are the ones that end in exhaustion and in danger of my attitude ruining it all. This is the real stuff that moms deal with.