Let’s have a chat about motherhood. NEVER, in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined the doubts, insecurities, and fears I would face along this journey. Growing up with younger siblings and being somewhat baby crazy as a child… I thought I knew what I was getting into. I bore my first child with an air of peace and expectation. I wasn’t afraid of the pain of childbirth, I didn’t think about immunizations or circumcision, I wasn’t concerned about discipline… I had it covered! I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when parenting wasn’t quite as simple as I had presumed. The months that followed were wrought with questions, self-doubt, and some days… pure panic! Being a mother is one of the most challenging, humbling, and second-guessing jobs there is. There really is no one right answer — there is nothing logical about it! What worked yesterday might not work today, what worked for that child won’t work for your next. Anyone else feeling exhausted just thinking about it?
But here is something we don’t often talk about: motherhood can sometimes make you feel like a captive. We are bound to our homes, to naptimes, to routines. We are often restricted from doing what we want or need to do. We are at times crippled by our own insecurity and fears. And often I have felt that I am a slave to old patterns: weaknesses like impatience and my quick temper. But this is not the life that God intended for us, my friend. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind¹. We are free from the person we used to be, from the patterns of this world², and are a new creation³. It is for freedom that He set us free⁴! So how do we walk in that freedom? How do we let go of fears and insecurities and step forward each day confident in who we are in Christ?
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Letting go of Fear and Insecurity: A Daily Process
One of the misconceptions we have as Christians is the idea that once we are saved, that’s it! “Just say the sinners prayer and you’re good to go!” But there is so much more that God has for us than salvation for our souls when we die! He desires for us to walk in daily freedom HERE and NOW! And that is a daily process because renewing our minds is not a one-time thing. In order to change our perception of ourselves, to be confident in our identity, we have to know our identity and our inheritance in our innermost being. I spend most of my days separating my head and my heart. I KNOW the Sunday School answer, I know what is true, but somehow my heart and emotions and beliefs about myself don’t line up with this truth!
Day 1 in my Free to Flourish Illustrated Faith Devotional kit
Changing what we believe about ourselves, about God, about our lives begins with convincing our heart and emotions of these truths. And this process of changing from the inside out only happens when we spend time resting in those truths. This past month I have been working my way through the new Illustrated Faith devotional kit, “Free to Flourish” and have been so blessed by the daily readings! Instead of journaling my responses, I have been illustrating my responses (to practice my Bible journaling skills) and writing down scriptures to memorize about my identity. While my head knows I need to spend time daily in the word of God, my body is tired and uninterrupted time is lacking. That is why these devotionals are PERFECT! There are only 14, which means I don’t have to be a slave to doing it every single day, I can still easily finish it in 1 month. It comes with washi tape and stickers and stamps and cut outs to help me decorate my journal or use to build my Bible journaling supplies. Plus the readings are short and manageable, something you can easily do in a few minutes during quiet or nap time, even in a few minutes in the bathroom (let’s be real!).
Everything included in your $30 kit!
The topics included in this month are:
- free from fear
- free from shame
- free from insecurity
- free from comparison
- free from striving
- free from discontentment
- free from criticism
- free to trust
- free to forgive
- free to care
- free to laugh
- free to sing
- free to dream
- free to thrive
This is my favorite kit that I have seen so far from Illustrated Faith. I love the watercolor flowers, I love the colors, and the daily readings are so applicable to my life as a mom. The kits sell for only $29.99 on the site and for a few more days you can use coupon code: 25FORYOU for an additional 25% off AND free shipping on your order within the US. CLICK HERE to shop the kit.
If you are feeling stuck in a rut in your parenting right now… I encourage you to set your mind on what God says about you! Come join the Bible journaling group on Facebook where I share a free scripture journaling pack for April with printable, coloring cards to write the promises of God every day of the month! Join the group HERE.
A peek inside my journal
If you are here for Bible journaling inspiration, I wanted to share one of my spreads from the devotional kit to give you some ideas. For these pages I used watercolor, a brush lettering pen and my felt-tipped markers.
A peek inside my journaling pages…
Snag your kit HERE, check out the new kit on the shop, or head to the group to download your free scripture journaling pack.
¹ 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
² Romans 12:2
³ 2 Corinthians 5:17
⁴ Galations 5:1
