Better Using Our Resources to Better Care for Others

These next few weeks at CatholicMom we’ll be reading Danielle Bean’s latest book Momnipotent. I highly recommend this book to any woman, but especially to those moms who feel like it’s all they can do to simply survive until bedtime.

Danielle asserts that every woman is “momnipotent.” She writes, “Momnipotence is the special array of gifts given by God—lived out in particular through the vocation of motherhood—that blesses our families and the world. Gifts of love, gentleness, insight, compassion, and more enable us to live out to the fullest our role as spouse and mother.”

We all know, though, that it’s really difficult to care for others when we feel like we’re falling apart. Momnipotent encouraged me to look around at the abundance of resources that God’s given to me to help me in my vocation so that I can better care for others. Feeling like we never have enough time, patience, money, etc. is so draining on the spirit, but often we have so much more than we think because we’re overlooking some of God’s more obvious blessings. Below are a few examples, and Danielle touches on these and many others in her book:

Nighttime. God has given us the gift of the setting sun so that we, too, can sweetly tuck ourselves into bed at the right time and feel His goodness in the morning. There are few treasures as precious as a good night’s sleep, and it’s so tempting to trade it in for late-night “me” time. But is it ever worth it?
Sunshine. Another gift of His that’s easy to miss. Even a deliberate ten minutes outside in nice weather can help melt away the weariness that’s gathered from our inside work.
Prayer. We probably have set aside certain times during the day to pray, but are we using that time to the fullest? It’s so easy to rattle off prayers, but what a difference it can make to our entire day when we really try our hardest to concentrate during those precious minutes of prayer.
Friends. Who has God put in your life that really lifts your spirit? If we’re feeling down, humorless, or frazzled, sometimes we just need to spend time with that friend that’s always up, funny, or serene, and borrow their graces for a while.
Family. When our work is simply too much for one woman to handle, it’s to them that we need to turn for help. Spouses, children, and relatives usually are happy to help when we explain the situation we’re in, what we’d like them to do, and how it’ll help us.

What are some of God’s more obvious blessings that have really helped you during the day? Please feel free to share so that we notice them, too!