Letter to A New Mamma

       If you could go back and      
encourage your new mama-self,
         what would you tell her? 

                                                    Taken from biblicalhomemaking.com


     If I had the chance, I'd tell that 21-year-old mama girl this and more:

1. Look into their little eyes. Look at them- really look at them. You can show your little one so much love just by holding their gaze.

2. Be proud of what those little ones accomplish, and tell them you are. You don't easily forget the praise of others, and neither do they.

3. Understand what makes them excited and be interested in it. Speak encouraging words of life into their passions.

4. Help them practice sitting still without distractions- in places like church, in restaurants, and in waiting rooms. Teaching them how to wait will be a gift to you in the present, and a gift to them in the future.

5. Tell them stories. Real life ones- things you've seen, places you've been, lessons you've learned- let them learn from your life experience.

6. Teach them how to be diligent by showing them how to do tasks over and over, until they're done right. It will take so much work at first, but it will be worth the effort in the end.

7. Surprise them sometimes. They will look back on it with such fondness later.

8. Tell them you love them often. Like all the time.

9. Hug them, kiss them, pick them up, and when they're too big, let them pick you up. Kind affection is a gift of it's own.

10. Pray for them out loud. When they're being stubborn, when they're hurt, when they're afraid, pray to their Father with them- in front of them- so they can learn to do the same on their own. Show them we aren't in control, and neither are they.

If anything, hope to remember that you have been given a gift from the Lord: the beautiful blessing of being a mama of these little children.