Care Full

In my 35 years with other Christians, I’ve heard a lot of women say they are burned out on church and burned out on motherhood. 

I mean, I get it.

There are many misinformed, patriarchal ideas out there about the roles women should play in church and at home. Most of these ideas involve service but have stirred together with western culture norms and now look like toxic performance. This has only made things worse for women over time, not better.

The pain around this issue is real. 

So real, research says it’s laced into our DNA.

But I do not believe this pain is from God.

I don’t know how it could be.

When God is full of care for us.

When God wants this for us…

To be our shepherd caring for and nurturing us until we lack nothing

To let us rest, safe-folded in gorgeous meadows, spilling over with wildflowers, golden with warm sun

To lead us to scenes and sounds that soothe and release a sigh of relief

To keep us vibrant, heart pulsing with passion for life

To guide us on paths of purpose where self-care and service find a happy center 

To be healthy emotionally, mentally, and physically

Because sacrifice and people-pleasing are two very different things

To be there for us when we are depressed, lonely, ashamed, worried, lost, exhausted, or forgotten

We don’t need to wander dark valleys alone

There is a presence of love so real and available it can rewire our neurobiology when we surrender to it

To protect us, from old narratives and from the chaos of our own minds

God sets out the finest china and asks about our most vulnerable dreams and listens for hours

He tells our traumas and our intruders that we deserve that level of care

He wants us bathed in lavender, nourished with crisp vegetables and little chocolate too (of course) and plenty of water and cozy cups of tea

Until we feel so loved we spill

We love and give and care for all those around us 

Until we are care full

With our sweet babies 

With our neighbors

With those walking dark valleys

We spill goodness and faithful love all over the world

Because we are so filled up with it

We know bone-deep that we are so loved and taken care of by a force stronger than ocean waves 

He pursues us because he cares

We live cradled in his arms forever

That is my rendition of Psalm 23 

Go read the actual passage and plant each promise in your heart

I think, especially on Mother’s Day, all women should know, that where people and systems have burned you, God’s care can restore you.

God is care full with us

It is his greatest work