We had been in a funk. Bedtime somehow got pushed back by hours, boundaries became blurred, and everything felt chaotic. 

I was crawling to the end of each day, and I was downright exhausted. I felt as though our house and life could have made it into a Berenstain Bears story: Mama Bear is Going to Lose It. 

Standing in front of an overflowing sink of dishes, I sighed, “Lord, please help me,” as I rolled up my sleeves and got to scrubbing. 

It wasn’t immediate, but over the next couple of days, throughout my exhaustion, ever growing pile of dirty laundry, and unending list of things to do, God brought forth a Scripture: 

“But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37, ESV).

To be totally honest, my yes wasn’t really yes, and my no wasn’t no. I had jumbled everything, added too much to our schedules, and was half-in everywhere. 

I mulled the verse over for a few days and one evening, while my husband was away at work, I decided that something needed to change. I took a hard look at my blurred boundaries and prayed over them, asking God to show me where change could help me feel less overwhelmed. 

We see over and over again that God is Love (1 John 4:8), but we also see that He’s a God of boundaries. His boundaries do not waver, and they are not without reason. His boundaries help protect us from harm that we cannot see or maybe even understand. Personally, I like knowing where the line is of my loving Father in Heaven. Even still, sometimes I tread a little too closely to that line. 

Our children are the same way. They need clear boundaries from us. They need to know that our yes is yes, and our no is no. They, too, will tread the line a little too closely, and maybe even cross it at times, for weeks on end. However, at the end of each day, we wrap them in our arms, affirming they are loved, valued, and treasured, reminding them that tomorrow is a new day, and new days bring new mercies.

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV). 

If you are in a season of exhaustion, I feel you. Cry out to our Father, and ask Him for help, discernment, and guidance. The enemy wants us to feel isolated and alone, but we know that God is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8). We may not receive an immediate answer but wait with expectation. And remember that God’s mercies are new each morning. Parenting is not for the weak. Let us remember that God does so much more in us through our children than we are doing in them.