Photo credit:Lori Buck

This week, we had a few days of abnormally warm weather for October.  A good friend and I decided to take the day off of work and finally get out to do some kayaking.  It was a beautiful fall day and the lake we went to was just breath- taking. I honestly hadn’t really taken a day all summer to just go and do something without my kids.  It was a nice break.  However, on the way to meet my friend, my daughter texted me to let me know that I had forgotten to sign a paper that she needed for school that day.  So, we got into the middle of the lake, I had to pull my phone out to make a call to correct the mistake.  My friend and I were joking about how as a mom, it doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing we are always a mom!  That proved true again as later that day, my daughter had an issue at school and I had to cut our day short to go take care of it.  Mom’s never seem to truly get rest.

As I was doing my devotional today, it was talking about rest and about Jesus getting away to pray.  As I was reading the story from Mark 6 where Jesus feeds the 5,000, the verses preceding that story really struck me.

 ^“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”   So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”
Mark 6:30-34

Jesus was trying to get away for some time for himself and his disciple to rest, but even then the people found him and he, in his great compassion, took care of their needs first.  There are so many stories like this about Jesus.  Everywhere he went people followed him.  We read this clearly further on in Mark chapter 6

“As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” Mark 6:54-56

As I read Mark 6 this morning, it struck me how much Jesus understood what it means to be a mom.  We know Jesus understands everything we face in life, but I don’t think I ever thought about just how true that statement was in terms of being a mom until today.

Being a mom is an all-day, every-day, forever job.  You don’t stop being a mom even when you are trying to sleep, or trying to use the facilities, or trying to take a break in the middle of a lake.  You don’t get to stop being a mom when your kids are grown and taking care of their own kids.  Once you become a mom, your life is never fully your own again.  But, Jesus gets it.  He understands exactly what it is like to be a mom.  Wherever he went people followed him.  He couldn’t even eat a meal without people coming to him.  I can’t even imagine having crowds of people consistently looking to you to give them something.  Yet Jesus gave, with compassion.  Now I don’t know about  you, but there are many times when I do not respond to my kids with compassion. There are many times when I feel like I am really failing as a mom.  However, Jesus understands my struggle.  Hebrews 4:15 reminds us:

 ^“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

Jesus truly understands what we are going through and He is always there to help us, to lead us, and to show us how to rest even in the craziest seasons of life.  True rest, the rest we need as moms comes from Him! So when the struggles and trials of being a mom seem to overwhelm you, look to Jesus, He will give you rest!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28