My Cup Runneth Over

Mother’s Day is literally the worst holiday. 

Not to be dramatic, but I hate it. 

There is so much pressure to buy the right gift for all the moms in your life. Then you have to get yourself and your kids dressed nicely for church and then instead of going home and napping or relaxing, you have to spend time with family. 

My ideal Mother’s Day, a day to celebrate my role as a mother, would not look like that.

Today I ran the rat race of Mother’s Day morning by myself. My husband was out of town, but I still was determined to have a good day. 

My kids… had other plans. My 6 year old was so hyper and wild I sent her outside. My 1 year old got into the toilet, the garbage, and dumped an entire bag of craisins on the floor while my hands were covered in raw meat, leaving me to watch the whole event helplessly while she ignored my screams to stop. 

My two little blessings. 

If you aren’t a mother then you have at least heard another mother complain about her children. If you are a mother then you have complained about your own children.

Don’t lie to me, we all do it. 

Unfortunately, the world's perspective of children is that they are a burden. 

They will ruin your life. 

They ruin Your body, your relationship with your husband.

Your home will never be clean again.

Oh yea, sleep? Haven’t seen that in awhile. 

To the world, children are a burden. 

 But that’s not what the LORD calls children. It’s the opposite, in fact. 

“Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward”

Psalms 127:3 AMP

If children are a gift, do we have a right to complain about them?

Why don’t my children always feel like a gift or a blessing to me? 

Perhaps it has something to do with my perspective.

I was listening to this song by MIQEDEM on my drive to church and it hit me in the stomach like a ton of bricks. 

One line in particular:

Kosi revaya.

My cup runneth over. 

You know this psalm. This passionate psalm written from a desperate place, but one that offers optimism and thanksgiving. The 23rd psalm.  

“The LORD is my shepherd; 

I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: 

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: 

for thou art with me; 

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: 

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

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The thought of a cup running over… a cup so full of blessing it spills out and disrupts the environment around it, it may seem exciting to some and like a burden to others. 

What are your thoughts of a cup spilling over onto the table and making things messy? Does that give you anxiety? 

My cup is running over. It makes me anxious sometimes.
My kids, my husband, my life. Everything I ever wanted and more. Much more. 

Those little blessings are stretching me, teaching me, shaping me to look more like Christ. 

The LORD gave me these little blessings, but at no point did he promise me it would be easy. 

Perhaps I have been viewing my overflowing cup incorrectly all this time. 

If my kids are from the LORD (and I know they are), then he also is filling my cup with the grace and love and patience I need to raise these kids. He is pouring into me the wisdom and kindness my children need. 

I don’t need a special holiday to “take a break” from being a mom. I don’t need a reward or recognition from anyone here on earth. 

My creator gave me the privilege to be a mom. 

My cup is running over. 

And I lack nothing.