Brooke McGlothlin - Unraveled: Hope for the Mom at the End of Her Rope

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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This book is a revised edition of Hope for the Weary Mom.

Unraveled

Copyright 2015, 2022 by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-8464-5 (pbk)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8465-2 (eBook)

LCCN: 2021949965

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CONTENTS

For the weary mom buried underneath the mess of life and believes she is alone.

You are not. Hope is here.

Lets walk together.

From One Weary Mom to Another

Y oud think that because Ive written a few books for parents and, oh, about a gazillion parenting articles and blogs, Id have this mothering thing down. Ive been a mom for a while, so that should help too. The truth is, at the time Im writing this my kids are ages 24, 21, 19, 6, 3, and 3. And Im weary. Weary .

I get a lot of responses when I tell people that Im a mom of six children. And then when I tell their ages people really get confused. After raising our three oldest children almost to adulthood, God led John and me to adopt three more. We adopted Alyssa (one of the three-year-olds) at birth, and just last year we adopted Bella (six), and Casey (three) from the foster care system.

I thought it would be easier the second time around. I learned how to set priorities and to focus on whats truly important while not trying to compare myself to others. After raising three kidsthe feeding and fretting, bathing and battling, caring and correctingyoud think Id have this mom thing figured out. (Or at least thats what I thought.) Wrong!

I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve, and Ive taken a major chill pill (or maybe its just softening with age), but parenting is still hard. There are times Im trying to bathe a cranky preschooler or discipline two children who are at each others throats, and I wonder, Why did I sign up for this again? There are moments when I hear Mommy! from the other room and Id rather pull the covers over my head than get up and make a sausage biscuit. (Im pretty sure my three-year-old boy eats sausage for breakfast every morning. Sausage was his first word!)

I get weary of power struggles, of putting my needs last, of trying to remember important things like making healthy meals, keeping electrical outlets plugged, and reading Bible stories in order to plant Gods Word in my kids hearts. And its not that Ive stopped my mothering role with the bigger ones either. They need advice, clean laundry, and college essays previewed, but mostly they need a listening ear. They need someone to be outraged about their unrealistic Western Civilizations professor as much as they are. They need someone to ask, Whats wrong? when its obvious that something is. And as my oldest has become a parent himself, he needs advice on his parentingwhich I only try to give when Im asked!

Parenting is more work than I ever dreamed of. With kids on both ends of the spectrum I realize this afresh on a daily basis. Thankfully, I have God to turn to. He is my strength, my wisdom, and my hope. Thankfully, there are books like Unraveled that remind me Im not alone; that point me in the right direction but mostly point me back to God.

Feeling frazzled, overwhelmed, unappreciated, and downright weary? Well, youve come to the right book. Brooke and Stacey are moms who are walking this road as well and who are here to stretch their invisible arms through these pages to offer you a hug of understanding and some pretty amazing advice too!

I know these women, and I know their hearts for moms. These pages have been bathed in prayer even as theyve been filled with Gods Truth. Know that you, reader, have been prayed for. Know that you arent alone. Know that there is Someone who will be there for you during your weary moments. And be encouraged as Brooke and Stacey share their own journey to finding strength and peace from the One who loves them mostthe One, Jesus, who loves you most too.

Walking the weary (but joyful) road with you,

Tricia Goyer

D ear Weary Mom,

If you are reading this a couple of things may be true of you. First, you are a mom. Second, you are weary, tired, and waving the white flag. You also may have seen the word hope and thought, I could use some of that tossed my way.

Ten years ago, I poured out my heart in a blog post called, Steve Jobs, Me, and Being Fresh Out of Amazing. Here is what it said:

The big news this week is that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. In a letter to the Apple Board and Community he said: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apples CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. As I read this, I had one thought: What happens when you are a mom, and you feel like you are not meeting your duties or the expectations of others but you cant step down? Who do you let know?

Heres the letter I would write if I had somewhere to send it:

Dear Lord (I figured I should go straight to the top), I have always said (well, lately anyway) that if I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as a wife, mom, teacher, and cheerleader to the five others living in this house, I would let you know. Today, that day has come. I have yelled, screamed (is that the same thing?), cried, asked forgiveness, and yelled again. Ive pretty much fallen short in every category. I am tired and not really good for much right now. The trouble is, Lord, that I need to be amazing and Im fresh out of amazing. At least it sure feels that way.