In moments of weariness or despair, looking up to the Lord can be a powerful help to a mother's heart.
What to do when the children are tiring or even unbearable, when the decibels are rising, when homework is sloppy, when the laundry is lying on the floor, or when some people come to blows rather than share wholeheartedly? There is not much filial or brotherly love in such situations!
Let's go back to your mother's heart. What is it like in these moments? Restless and hoping to get it over with quickly by putting everyone to bed? Exasperated without the slightest desire to listen to the conflict that is being played out around the little red car? Depressed at the dishwasher that no one has had the idea to empty? Depressed by the task that is resting on your shoulders? Stop for a moment. Remember: "Come to me, all you who labour under a burden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).
Is it? Is Christ going to empty the machine? Probably not! But have you considered the possibility that He will be there with you and give you His peace? Have you considered that He will give you His strength to carry out your daily task? Have you considered that He gives you His joy to transform your view of your children? Have you considered that He gives you His very heart to love your children?
In this moment, you learn to look at your children and everyday situations with the very eyes of Christ.
When Christ offers you to share his yoke, he is not offering you to be burdened with trials with him, it is quite the opposite! He offers you to come and carry your humanity, to come to the rescue of your weakness. The yoke is not there to imprison you to Him, but on the contrary to let Him carry it for you! Check out the origin of the word and the use of the yoke in the fields and countryside: the yoke on two oxen was to help each other, not to make one collapse under the work of the other!
Have you thought of calling on Him? To ask Him for help in your moments of discouragement and doubt? Just a phrase or a word you like, a word from a passage of the Word or a saint, to catch His hand that is stretched out towards you, to look at Him who is constantly looking at you and is only waiting for you to raise your eyes to Him. At this moment you learn to act as a Child of God, to live in the Spirit. Like your child who seeks your kind and encouraging gaze before running off. By placing yourself in the hands of Christ, you taste his filial love for the Father. You no longer rely on your own strength but on this divine love. You learn to let God look at you. You learn to look at your children and everyday situations with the very eyes of Christ.