I missed opportunities to show them what it means to have faith or teach them about the Trinity and Communion of Saints still pulling for us. I missed opportunities to teach them about Love and Joy found even in suffering. Most of all, I missed being available for my children. I look back at all I accomplished in the early years of abandonment and am amazed but sad too. Saying yes to one thing, means saying no to another. Like many others, I could not do all things, but that didn’t keep me from trying to. Our family had a lot going on, and all of it was my responsibility. ![]() I could go on with more challenges we faced or with how much was put upon my shoulders, but the general idea outlined above is enough. I could not do all things, but I could not admit it. I packed up our house to move without knowing where we would go when the bank finally declared foreclosure. I juggled bills and tried to pay what we owed, but the damage caused by a lack of child support was insurmountable. As head of my household, I worked several part time jobs while fighting to get 60 college credits and obtain a more marketable 7-12 math certification and raise five kids. I had a masters in education, but my elementary teaching license had expired while I stayed home to raise my children. I was also solely responsible for our family’s finances. Needing to do all things also meant I worried about all things from the house burning down in the middle of the nightto some miraculous financial windfall landing in my lap because I would have been solely responsible for handling both. If something exciting happened at school, a friend invited my son to a party, or he was chosen as captain of his team, he came home to tell me. If one of my boys was hungry, tired, or sick, I cared for him. My boys and I lived in a world that revolved around me single-handedly doing all things. We tend to think the phrase, “I can do all things” actually means, “I should do all things.”Īs a suddenly abandoned single mom of five little boys, I easily fell into this way of thinking. Woman was created as a helpmate to Adam and yet, we feel the need to help, not only our Adams, but everyone else too. To add to this, many moms have a hard time saying no when asked to help. ![]() The list of jobs covered by the title “Mom” is almost endless. ![]() Outside the home, mothers can be military heroes, doctors, and sanitation workers. Within the home, we are wives, teachers, nurses, housekeepers, chefs, chauffeurs, coaches, and more. In every way, I failed to grasp its truth or the power Phil 4:13 gives to those who go beyond the saccharine surface of a feel-good quote. In many ways I believed it wholeheartedly. As a mom, the popular phrase taken from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” was a hefty yoke on my shoulders.
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