Have you ever woken up, immediately thought about your day and all it’s going to bring and just started dreading it all? Maybe you’re dreading dropping your kids off at daycare/school, maybe you're dreading your long work schedule, maybe you’re dreading all the cleaning that has to be done, maybe you’re dreading the vicious cycle of trying to be a good and calm mom but feeling overwhelmed and defeated 5 minutes into the day, maybe you’re dreading the potential arguments you and your husband might have due to all the extra stress, maybe you’re dreading the overstimulation, maybe you’re just tired and dreading it all. All this dread then leads to guilt, guilt for feeling dread and all over again! If you have felt these ways, I want you to know you’re not alone and you’re not a bad mom for feeling these ways. You are completely normal and it’s possible you’re just tired and a bit burnt out. I caught myself the other morning waking up with a sense of dread. I felt really tired, and I thought of all I had to do, and, in that moment, I wanted to do nothing instead. It caused me to start off the day with a negative perspective and attitude. I felt a tad irritated right off the bat. But I quickly felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit. He showed me a two-sided coin and revealed to me that I can look at this day two ways, filled with dread or I could flip the coin and choose to look at those same things with a positive perspective. Instead of dreading the housework, I could choose to stop and thank God for the house we have. Instead of dreading homeschool because I was tired, I could remind myself why I am so grateful I have this opportunity to teach my children, instead of dreading working out later I could choose to be thankful that I can work out from home and strengthen my body, instead of dreading making dinner I could get excited about creating a nice meal and so on. The truth is, all these things can be tiring, and we can get burnt out from all the tasks and demands every day, this is normal. But we could also find ourselves in a slump of self-pity and dread that takes our eyes off of the gratefulness we should have for these very things we’re blessed to be responsible over. That doesn’t mean we should fake it till we make it, that’s lame. It just means we should acknowledge our feelings and yet still choose to take a step back and grasp a greater perspective. After I felt this encouragement from the Holy Spirit, I started to think about the things I look forward to that day. I began to imagine the day unraveling better than anticipated. I began realizing I had the opportunity to enjoy my kids, make little moments and just simply have fun today. I drank all my coffee for a power boost, had some time with Jesus and asked him to help me in these areas and truthfully the day ended up being more joyful than I felt it would be when I woke up. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy my life, my kids and the dynamic of this season. I don’t feel dread every day, but this particular day I felt so tired, and everything felt overwhelming. So today I believe God wants to speak to our hearts and first tell us, He understands us. We don’t have to feel guilty or ashamed for feeling dreadful and overwhelmed. But 2. I believe He wants to help us flip the coin and see things with a grateful and hopeful perspective.

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