Help for Mommy Stress

I picked up two new books yesterday. One is called The Worn Out Woman and the other is called The Bathtub is Overflowing but I Feel Drained. Hmmm....can you guess how I've been feeling for the last 7-8 years?

Here is what I read last night from The Worn Out Woman....."Although I sincerely longed to be the woman God intended me to be and had made some progress in that area, at times my life still felt out of control and overwhelming. Each time I fell back into what I call "race-pace mode," I realized I had many more miles of learning....it seems I've encountered more and more women who struggle with the issues we talked about. Most are energetic, accomplished women. They sincerely desire God's best for their lives. And yet they are exhausted, discouraged, burned out, missing joy. They know something is wrong, but they're not quite sure how to make it all right---and they're not sure they have the energy to try."

That really hit home for me! Then I started to wonder how many other women feel this way and how we try to blame the season of life we're in. In some ways we've accepted this overwhelming feeling as normal so we don't think anything but time (and, our kids growing older and less needy) will fix it. Many of us are really too worn-out to give much thought to fixing the reasons we're so worn-out! I do like to stay busy but I'm learning to say "no" and prioritize the commitments I do have. I'd like to say I figured it all out by now, but I wouldn't be buying books like these if I have!

I also wonder if this is a modern day problem or if it is something women have always struggled with. If so, it was never something you could openly talk about because you were a woman and you knew what was expected of you. We are so blessed to be in the place and home God has called us "for such a time as this"! I don't want to waste a precious moment of it with meaningless activity that leaves me drained.

Now, I need to start figuring out how exactly to do that!