Lies of Motherhood

They do exist.

And in SPADES.

Before I dive in, I want to make one thing very clear…whatever your motherhood journey has been, whatever choices you have made, GOOD JOB. You should feel proud of what you’ve accomplished! You SHOULD feel like the badass mama and hero that you really are.

We don’t always have the “luxury” of choosing how some of this journey goes, so however it’s gone and is going, GO MAMA! You can do it! And you’re doing a great job.

The only caution I want to give you, is don’t let the pride you may have in your mama choices determine how you judge your or another mama’s worth and value.

Pride can be pretty sneaky and turn accomplishments into critiques of others (including yourself) and end up creating a win or lose list of choices that has no business existing at all.

These motherhood lies can come across as friendly advice or inadvertently through someone else’s story or experience.

Some are seemingly obvious and others are very sneaky and fly under our radar.

Either way, once we start believing them, we open ourselves up to mental and spiritual bondage and torment. Sounds nasty doesn’t it?

I am going to list out and address a few of these common lies, however this is not an exhaustive list. My goal is to help you start recognizing these lies about motherhood so that when another comes at you, you can identify it and kick it out of your life.

Sound good? Let’s get started.

⁃ If you don’t have a “natural” birth you’re a failure.

⁃ If you labor and deliver without any pain medicine or interventions whatsoever, you are better than those who didn’t.

⁃ If you bottle feed, you’re a bad mom.

⁃ If you breastfeed, you’re the better than those that bottle feed.

⁃ If you had an epidural during labor, you didn’t really labor.

⁃ If you had a C-section, you took the easy way out.

⁃ If you don’t eat kale salads and salmon for most meals while pregnant, you’re a bad mom.

⁃ If you don’t exercise while pregnant, your baby may be less smart and might develop diabetes. (Sounds ridiculous, but this was said on an ad for a prenatal exercise program you could buy.)

⁃ Labor is going to be long, hard, and awful.

⁃ Pushing is going to be hell, and don’t even mention that “ring of fire”.

⁃ If you take the recommended v*XXs during pregnancy you’re a great mom and if you don’t, you’re a horrible one.

⁃ If you feed your babies fruit baby food first instead of veggie baby food, you’ll ruin them and their ability to eat a variety of foods.

⁃ You are for sure going to have the WORST morning sickness on the planet when pregnant.

⁃ You can’t handle it. You can’t do it. Why even try.

⁃ Etc…

All. Of. These. Are. LIES.

So, what do you do if you find you’ve believed some of these (or other) lies about motherhood?

An exchange needs to take place.

Renounce them/break agreement with the lie(s), forgive whomever or wherever they came from, get the truth from God, and make agreement with it instead.

Example:

1.) “In the name of Jesus, I repent for believing the lie that _________. I renounce and break agreement with that lie right now.”

2.) “Jesus, who do I need to forgive? (Wait until He shows you.) In the name of Jesus, I forgive __________ for introducing that lie to me. I speak love and blessing over them in the name of Jesus.”

3.) “Jesus, what is the truth? (Wait until He shows you.) In the name of Jesus, I make agreement with the truth that ____________. Thank you Jesus! Amen.”

Tada! Exchange made.

For some reason, being pregnant and having children seems to give the world permission to speak into our lives and make all kinds of judgement calls about our choices as moms and moms-to-be.

No.

Take that permission BACK.

It wasn’t given in the first place, and it’s NONE of their business. YOU are the mom. YOU are the one going through all of this. YOU are the one with the final say. If you don’t have peace about the advice given, no matter who it came from, THROW IT OUT.

It’s so essential to do all of this with the Holy Spirit. He is the best guide and has all of the wisdom, guidance, and knowledge you need, not to mention comfort and safety.

Let Him take over your mothering, wherever you are in your journey. Give it to Jesus, all of it. I promise it will be an upgrade you can’t do without and you’ll never regret it!

If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, and you want one (believe me, I don’t know how I’d do any of this motherhood stuff without Him), you can pray this:

“Jesus, I need You. Thank you for dying on the Cross to save me. Please come into my heart and wash away all of my sins. Be the Lord of my life. I surrender it all to You. Thank you for loving me. Amen.”

If you just prayed that prayer, WOOT!!!

Welcome to the family!

All of Heaven is throwing a party just for you. You will NEVER be alone, ever. Jesus has promised to never leave you or forsake you. He will equip you with everything that you need and will need to do this mothering thing successfully and well. The best is yet to come!

All in all, mama, you’re doing a great job and I’m super proud of you! Motherhood is a hefty business and not for the faint of heart…and you CAN do it.

Love you!

Kristi

Xoxo