“A fresh-cooked meal? That is seriously the quickest way to my heart!”

My friend, a twenty-something worn-out Mama, hugged the casserole dish hard before wrapping her arms around my shoulder. A grateful smile made its way right up into those big, green, sleep-deprived eyes of hers.

She was in a difficult season, having recently received a hard diagnosis. She’d been running on caffeine for days, now. Weeks, really. With very little rest and mounting pressures of bills and decisions and fears, she was weary and worn thin.

I’d meant to do something before now but I kept making it bigger than it was.

The circumstances she was facing were a big deal so I wanted to do something big. To say something right. To somehow make it all go away.

Sometimes trying to find time for the big things that we want to do keeps us from doing the small and meaningful things we could do. Sometimes we’re so busy trying to navigate all the roles in our own lives, its hard to find the time for a pick-me-up for others because we make it such a thing.

But moms need encouragement on all the days. Good and bad.

So how do we make a difference?

What we do is to go ahead and simply do something. We stop making it so big that we cripple ourselves from doing something, anything, in the right here and right now of it all. Because even small things help a tired mom make it through.

We’re sharing a couple mom-worthy suggestions to get you thinking. {Bear in mind, a mom in crisis holds its own set of social etiquette rules so we may have to release a few of our normal expectations.}

 

  1. Pray.

It sounds too simple, right? But this requires no effort whatsoever for the mom who often can’t even find time to go to the bathroom much less answer the phone. Go ahead: ask God to move in mighty ways in her life.

  1. Listen to her.

Sometimes a Mom just needs to know there’s someone somewhere willing to listen when she is ready to talk.

  1. Don’t judge.

Maybe you’re walking to the door and heard her yelling at her children. It’s not time to pass judgement. She most likely already feels like a failure in many areas of her life, let’s not add anything to that list.

  1. Feed her family.

When time is tight or stress is high, one of the hardest things to do is to plan meals for your family. Consider preparing a meal and delivering it to her. Or maybe organize a meal-giving chain that allows other folks to help by dropping off meals.

  1. Babysit.

Every mom needs a break from their children. Go ahead, give her one.

  1. Invite her over.

Many moms have no babysitting help so they remain isolated at home. The invitations come but many of them are sans kids. Invite her over, with or without the kids. Whatever she needs.

  1. Release any expectations.

Send an encouraging text or email but let her know in advance you don’t expect a response. And mean it. Motherhood is hard enough without trying to satisfy everyone when you’re thick in a crisis.

  1. Run errands with her.

And goodness gracious, offer to let her leave the kids in the car when she needs to run inside.

  1. Surprise her with chocolate.

If you can’t take a meal, send lots of chocolate. Because well, chocolate.

  1. Send her something to brighten her day.

Sometimes we simply can’t squeeze another moment out of our own day to make meals or visit in person, but here’s the great news: a gift of any sort tends to lighten the hardest of days.

This month, we celebrated some awesome moms in a small way. We grabbed a bunch of these super-cute magnet sets from DaySpring and picked some moms we knew were doing an amazing job and surprised them. The mom with the autistic child at therapy. The mom with the two make-you-wanna-pull-your-hair-out young boys. The mom with the teenager at home as well as the troubled adult child and a full time retail management job. The over-worked teacher. The busy entrepreneur mom trying to balance it all. The mom in crisis.

It was so much fun to encourage these beautiful moms in a small way!

Encourage A Mom

 

 

DaySpring magnets

 

DaySpring

 

So go ahead. Don’t overthink it. Just reach out to that tired mom and encourage her today. Tell us when you do and we’ll enter you to win your own set of AWESOME MOM magnets. Simply use the hashtag #EncourageAMom to enter. And for an extra entry, consider sharing this post with someone else who might be encouraged from it?

 

P.S. DaySpring is one of our favorite resources for encouraging others. And they have some awesome gift packages for Mom right now. Order before Monday 5/8 and it will get to her in time!

About

Jo Ann helps busy, go-getter women stop ignoring the signals that they're doing too much. As an author and Life Coach, she helps them learn how to make time for themselves so they can start loving their lives again. You can connect with her at JoAnnFore.com.