Wanna know five ways to ruin Mother’s Day for yourself?
#1- EXPECT YOUR DAY TO GO WELL IN EVERY WAY.
Expect the kids– no matter how young– to be dressed to perfection, on their own, or by someone else, without your help. Expect that you will be waited on, hand and foot. Though more may be crammed into this day than a normal Sunday, expect that it will be entirely easy, joyful, and without any stress whatsoever.
#2- SET THE BAR HIGH.
Expect that everyone will rise up to praise you in exactly the way you desire. Expect gifts that are just what you would have chosen yourself, plans that are exactly to your specification, and for every card to say exactly what you need to hear. Anticipate that, by the end of the day, your love tank will be full to the brim, and overflowing.
#3- MAKE IT ALL ABOUT YOU.
If something goes wrong, someone else wasn’t thinking about you. If the baby spits up on your dress, bring on the self-pity: “Of all the days! Can’t I just have one special day without this?” If the restaurant worker is slow, let it ruin everything. If your toddler has a meltdown, or the ten-year-old does bunny fingers on his younger sibling and foils the perfect family picture you were hoping to get, say something like, “for JUST ONE DAY, couldn’t you get your act together?” The louder and huffier, the better.
#4- DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT TODAY.
If they forget to say it, or it’s a cheesy or poorly-planned day, give yourself full license to display all manner of uncontrolled emotions and sputter out the most unfiltered words your mouth can speak. Self-control, schmelf-control. No need to display Christlikeness on a day that’s all about you!
#5- MAKE YOUR WAY THE LAW
Don’t offer grace to the human people around you. Forget all the grace you’ve needed in your life. Don’t call to mind all the times you’ve botched it. Don’t worry about honoring God with your attitude. Be more concerned about everyone’s adherence to your self-honoring law that places your feelings and desires at the center of the world.
And if, right now, you feel a little chided, just know that I’m chiding myself right alongside you. I’ve cherished disappointment in my heart at various holidays because of my own expectations.
So this is a challenge for MY heart right alongside yours.
I don’t want to live through a lifetime of disappointed, grumpy, self-centered Mother’s Days.
I want to be joyful no matter which card the kids choose (or don’t choose), no matter whether they write something that is delightful or disappointingly trivial, whether the gifts are perfect or non-existent.
Let’s be God-honoring, Spirit-filled, joyful women no matter how this Mother’s Day goes.
Agreed?
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