Letter to a Tired Mother


Dear Mother,
God sees you. I needed to tell you that. Yes, I’m talking to you. Yes, you. God knows your hurts. He hears your quiet sobs in the night.

It stormed here last night. The rain fell, and my baby cried. I paced the floor between her bed and mine. The well-worn path needed nothing to illuminate the way. My heart led. That’s the way of things when your child is sick.

I wanted you to know there’ll be nights like this. There will be strings of nights like this. Each time you lay your body down, you’ll wonder, “Will I wake when she calls?” You’ll wake. Don’t worry. It’s the way God made us.

Your body will drag, your eyes will droop and your spirits will trail behind you like stuck-on toilet paper. But you will survive. I promise. You will.

When your baby cries at each of the even hours and 5 a.m. finds you wondering why you even bothered trying to sleep, it’s okay if you weep. It doesn’t make you less of a mother. It makes you more of a human.

The morning will come, and with it, perhaps more medicine, more wet cloths and more tears. But in that moment when the orange glow of sunrise pushes its way in the room, telling you you’ve made it through the long night, it brings hope.

While your precious child lays her damp head on your chest, you’ll glance down and notice her lashes splayed across her cheeks and listen to her long steady breaths.

It’s going to be okay. Sweet mother, there’ll be nights like this. But during the long dark hours that hover and threaten to suffocate, know this.

The darkest of nights is always followed by morning.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalms 30:5 KJV

Sincerely,
A Tired Mother who made it to morning

7 Responses to Letter to a Tired Mother
  1. Kimberly
    April 19, 2012 | 7:37 am

    Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I remember those nights. And we so need to let one another know that it is okay to find those nights hard. It’s okay to cry. AND we need the reminder there IS hope. Long, sleepless nights…they come in seasons. And even in the midst of those sometimes tough and exhausting seasons, there is such beauty. I remember thinking I would not make it through those nights…and now I would so love to hold my girls so tiny just once more, to smell their sweet little baby noggins, to see tiny eyelashes splayed on full and oh, so squeezable cheeks.

    Beautiful encouragement, friend. 🙂

    • Carol
      April 19, 2012 | 7:43 am

      Thanks, Kimberly. Grace is almost three and we’ve just had a whole week of nights and days like this – which included my birthday. 🙁 When you are in the middle of it, sometimes it’s hard to believe you are going to make it through. Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂 Love you!

  2. Leann
    April 19, 2012 | 10:16 am

    Thank you! Just what I needed to read today. My son is about to turn two and we’ve had a rough few nights. He is refusing to go to bed and bedtime and then waking up a lot during the night. And I work outside the home, so I am one tired mama this week! Thanks for the encouragement. I made it to morning!!!

    • Carol
      April 19, 2012 | 12:11 pm

      Leann, I totally get it. We’ve had that kind of week here, too. 🙂 Hugs to you. Hopefully, you’ll get some sleep tonight.

      • Leann
        April 19, 2012 | 1:11 pm

        Thanks, I hope so too! Luckily, my husband’s been a huge help lately because my son has become quite the daddy’s boy. Praise God!

  3. Nikki
    April 19, 2012 | 10:19 am

    Oh you filled up my cup this morning, thank you! I’m having a string of those nights right now and my husband asked me just this morning how I manage to wake when needed. 😉
    Thank you for your encouragement, Carol! And thank You, Lord, for gifting us with a mom alarm…for getting us through sleepless nights…but most importantly, for gifting us with new mercies. new mornings!

    • Carol
      April 19, 2012 | 12:13 pm

      Oh, thank you Nikki for saying so. You are sweet. It’s amazing how we can jump right out of bed without our husbands even waking sometimes. But it’s just as amazing how they can go downstairs with a baseball bat when things go bump in the night. God designed each of us to perfectly fulfill our roles. 🙂 Praying you find rest tonight.