 Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I am so glad that you're with me today. I pray that you're being well celebrated. Hopefully you are sitting in your favorite spot on the couch or maybe curled up in your favorite chair with a comfy blanket. You might have a Bible or a journal or a pen with you, but definitely make sure that you've got a coffee or your favorite tea with you because this time is all about you. And I'm so excited to spend this Mother's Day time with you. So today, our divo is going to be entitled Made to Be Their Mom. And I truly feel that it's going to empower you and equip you and inspire you to walk in all that God's made you to be and really release you of some of the mom pressures and the mom guilt that all of us go through life with. So in getting started, I wanted to put together a list of all of the things that we as moms do. We are the epitome of multitaskers. So I'm sure there's more that I'm missing. You can shout me down from where you're sitting, but I'm going to share this list with you of some of the amazing things that we do on a daily basis. Are you ready? Calendar keeper, grocery list keeper, grocery shopper, meal maker, school lunch packer, homework helper, school note writer, chauffeur, activities coordinator, athletic director, cheerleader, encourager, prayer warrior, disciple maker, teacher, nurse, babysitting scheduler, party planner, house cleaner, gift shopper, pet caretaker, gardener, personal shopper, laundry service provider on a daily basis, repair woman of favorite blanket or stuffed animal, appointment keeper, head of the household social committee, slime maker and probably most notably slime cleaner upper. So moms, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all that you do. You are incredible and your family is so blessed to have you as their mom and you are perfectly poised to be the mom that God wants you to be. So we're going to talk a little bit today on comparison and our own expectations on ourselves of perfection. So as we talked about all of the things that we do on a daily basis, I think about that as spinning plates and we're spinning 1,000 plates moms. We are spinning them constantly. And I think one of the dangers that we have is that we feel like we have to be the best at every single plate when really we just need to keep it spinning. We don't have to keep it spinning perfectly. It doesn't have to be perfectly balanced. It just needs to keep going. And I think that sometimes we're influenced in the things around us to think that we have to be perfect. We need to be all things to all people and we need to do everything with absolute perfection. And that is a lie of the enemy. We're never called to be perfect in every area. So I think that sometimes we learn that from meeting other moms in social circles and you'll see that they really have it together. Their kids always look great. All of their pictures have their kids with perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect home. And it's really easy for us to compare. But another thing that I wanna talk to you about is social media. And listen, I love social media. I think it's a great tool to connect with others to know what's going on in some friends' lives. But one of the risks of social media is that we often get on there when we need a mental break. When we're exasperated, we're tired, we've been spit up on too many times, we've changed too many diapers and filled too many sippy cups. And we get on to have some mindless scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. And I just really wanna encourage you in this, moms, that you see a lot of advertisements when you're on social media. And that's because marketers are savvy. They're not silly. And they know that that's a great spot to keep you and they know that people generally get on when they're exasperated and they need a break. And that's the time where you are the most susceptible to feeling less than and to comparing yourself. So just realize, have your guard rails up. When you get onto social media, if you're tired and you're not feeling your best that day, that you are going to see things of someone's highlight rails that go through and really guard your mind, guard your eyes, guard your heart so that you're not prone to comparison because it's such a dangerous trap in your life. And now we don't just have social media, but we have social media influencers taking it to the next level. And our social media influencers are maybe with organization, maybe it's closet organization when you can barely get your drawers closed or maybe it's a fitness influencer or hair or nails or makeup and all different areas of people who are the best, the best at what they do. But here's what we need to remember, mom. You are never called to be the best at what they do. You are called to run your race uniquely and the expression of motherhood that is so unique only to you. So keep that in mind as we're prone to compare and we see that someone else puts together the best school lunch when you barely, you scraped just to get two slices of bread and you need to run out to the store. It's okay. And just don't be careful not to compare yourself with someone else's profession or someone else's expertise. You are not meant to keep every plate spinning and do it with perfection. And at best influencers, they really can encourage us to be a better version of ourselves, fitness and makeup and hair. There's a great place for that, but at worst they cause despair and they make us feel less than or feel inadequate. And we really need to guard against that in our lives because the biggest danger is that we get so caught up in someone else's expertise and being good at what they're good at that we lose that authentic expression of motherhood and of womanhood that we were made to have. So just really guard against that. We've all run into that, right? Of you've been shaving wrong your entire life. So we can get caught up in those traps. That's one in particular with me where I was feeling poorly about myself and thinking how can I be 40 years old and not know how to shave? But it was just an advertisement. So they are very good at drawing us in and making us feel like there's an area of our life that has a huge lapse. And moms, that's just not the case. It's not the case. And you don't need to be perfect at every single thing. So, you know, one of the thing, one of the scriptures that I love is Proverbs 31. And I really look at that as, she's the epitome of a wife and a mother. And I looked at that. And when I was raising my kids, when they were young, I now have 13 and 15 year olds, so almost 16. So as I was looking into that, as my kids were young, I tried to be the best in every single area. And it took a while for me to realize that, that, you know, Proverbs 31 doesn't call us to be perfect in every area. It calls us to be faithful and just run the race that God has for us. So she wasn't perfect, but she was just faithful. And, you know, sometimes we can mock that everybody gets a trophy mindset, but you know, moms, sometimes you need to know that it's okay and you're enough if you just show up. Sometimes you need to remember that, you know, when you're exasperated and you're tired and you need a nap, you're enough. And when your makeup's not perfect and your hair's not perfect and your body isn't exactly where it needs to be, mom, you are enough. And you don't have to be, and if you are an influencer and you're a total boss in some area, that's awesome, own that and be that. But the rest of us, I don't want us to look at those areas and make us feel like that's where we need to be perfect and that's where we need to be proficient because really we just need to be focused on the race that's before us. I love this quote by D.L. Moody. And it said, our greatest fear should not be failure, but succeeding at something that doesn't really matter. And I think that's exactly what we're talking about of wanting to be perfect at something that's not really relevant to your race. It may be relevant in life, but it's perfection at it isn't what you were ever called to do. So, we confuse those things sometimes and we wanna meet everyone's expectations and be perfect in every area. But we need to remember that we only need to meet God's expectations of us. And his yoke is easy and his burden is light. So when we're feeling the yoke of mom pressures and of comparison and that burden, we need to remember that that's not God. So this is something that I wanna to work on here and some encouragement for you. First of all, moms remember your lane, search out what's important to God and what he's uniquely made you to be and find that out and operate in that. Know well what he has called you to. And this takes daily recognition and daily recollection. Even though you may know it, there are going to be the pressures in life that try to pull you and distract you into other areas. It's going to take tenacity on your part to know the call of God on your life, know where you are called to be in the season and know where you are called to do it really well and not let other things distract you from it. So in speaking of trophies, the trophy that you must win is the one that you were made to win. I love Hebrews 12, one through two in the NLT. It says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to this life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us, before you uniquely for you. And verse two tells us how to do this. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. So mom, you're not going to win someone else's race, but you are perfectly poised to win your own. And I can't speak for God, but I'm pretty sure that when we meet him someday, he's not going to pat us on the back and celebrate us for killing it in someone else's race. He's going to say, well done, good and faithful servant when we're faithful to exactly where he's called us. So let's talk about God's plan for you because it is so much better than social media's plan for you or anyone else's plan for you. First of all, ask God, ask God where he is calling you to and the special expression of motherhood that he has for you, the unique expression, and mom, I want you to own it. You know, we know that first Peter 4-10 says, every man has received gifts. You have received gifts. There is something that God has designed you specifically for and placed inside of you, and it's exactly, those gifts are exactly what you need to complete your race with excellence, but it's exactly the mom that you need to be for the kids that you're blessed with. You don't need to be any other mom than the mom to your kids. I just want to encourage you in that. So I want to finish up with Psalm 139 today. I love this. If you have your Bible open, if you have your Bible there, you can go ahead and open it up with me, but I'm going to start in verse one. And Psalm 139 verse one says, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. When I sit down, when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high and I cannot attain it. So he's with you, mom. He's with you every step of the way. You're not running this alone. You're running this yoked with him. And his yoke is easy and his burden is light and he's speaking to you and he's encouraging you and he's showing you everything that you need every day to be the mom that you need to be. Skipping down to verse nine, it says, if I take wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me. Your right hand shall hold me. Again, he is there leading and guiding you. You need to have confidence in that of knowing that he wants to lead and guide you. You're not there alone. And here's where, here's my favorite. And in verse 13, it says, again, this is still in Psalm 139. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret. Intricately woven into depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them. I love this part because you mom were so intentionally made and intentionally designed. Everything from your voice to the color of your eyes to your personality is intentional. You are exactly who you were made to be by the Lord. There is nothing that was hidden from him. And you were intricately woven in the depths of the earth. And my favorite line in this, well, a couple of lines is that I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Great are your works. I know them well. And when we get into comparison, we run the risk of not knowing well the great works that he's put in us. When we have our eyes on someone else's race, we run the risk of not knowing well the things that he has for us. And I just wanna encourage you with this. One in 400 trillion or some say one in 400 quadrillion. I've never even heard that number before. That's the likelihood of you being born on this earth right now in this season. One in 400 quadrillion. Mom, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are intricately woven. Great are his works. You need to know that well. And if you wanna think about, sometimes if we feel like we're not enough as a mom, double those numbers. The likelihood of one of your children being born to you is one in 800 quadrillion. Moms, that's not happenstance. Your kids, just like you were knit in your mother's womb, the Lord knit your kids in your womb because he knew that there's no one like you that could raise them. There's no one like you that could catapult them onto their purpose. There's no one like you who can draw greatness out of them and to train them up in the way that they should go so that when they're old, they won't depart from it. You were made to be their mom. So when we start thinking that we're not enough, it's often because we've forgotten that we're not alone. Go back to the beginning of the Psalm and remember that God is with you. God has made you. God has made you to be your children's mom. And you have him with you to help you succeed. So Moms, you were intentionally designed with your kids in mind. So I hope that you rest in that. I hope that empowers you and equips you to run the race that is unique to you. I'm gonna pray with you and then you can enjoy the rest of your mother's day. Lord, I thank you for this mom. Lord, lay your hand upon her right now. And I pray that you would speak your affections over her. Show her that she is enough and she is fearfully and wonderfully made to walk in all that you have for her. Lord, I pray that you would equip her and give her everything that she needs to be the mother that you're calling her to be. But Lord, today we celebrate her. We celebrate that she's fearfully and wonderfully made. And we thank you that as a mom, she is more than enough. Remove guilt, remove shame, remove condemnation, remove comparison, Lord. And Father, set her eyes on the race that you have before her, uniquely for her to raise the amazing kids that you blessed her with. In Jesus' name, amen. Happy Mother's Day, mom.