Joy & the Single Mom: By Jennifer MaggioSample

Mom, it is hard, but you will make it.

Can we stop and acknowledge that parenting is hard and single parenting is even harder? When life is hard, it is much harder to find joy! For some, your single parenting experience may not even be your fault. Maybe you were cheated on, abandoned, abused, or widowed. Maybe you tried to follow God’s word and live a life surrendered and submitted to Him, yet you still wound up parenting alone. That can seem unfair, but if you want to live a life of restored joy, you will have to get good at forgetting.

Step 5 to restoring your joy as a single mom: Practice forgetting!

Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 2:2 that we must get good at forgetting everything except Christ Jesus. As we focus on him, the things of this world grow dim. Forget about the offense. It doesn’t matter what they say. Forget the details and how it stung and how it wasn’t fair. Forget about past mistakes – whether yours or someone else’s. Forget about what they did to you. Forget about how the church, friends, or family weren’t there for you during a difficult time in your life. It’s time to let it go. Your offense will keep you bound in misery and despair.

Repent where you’ve fallen short of God’s commands. Ask forgiveness when you have hurt others. Forgive those who have hurt you. And choose to move on. Focus on the future. Focus on Jesus – growing your relationship with Him – choosing to forget all else. In Him, there is fullness of joy. Push towards the prize. Run your race well. Raise those babies in the way they should go. Use your gifts and talents to serve your family, community, and church. When we are in our lane, working as unto the Lord and operating in obedience to His word, there is joy and satisfaction in every season – even seasons we didn’t expect to be in.

People are counting on your joy to be restored – not the least of which is your children. They depend on your indescribable joy. They rely on your laughter. They are counting on you learning (or re-learning) to embrace the moment, enjoy the little things, and learn the art of truly living again.

Points to Ponder:

• Are you holding on to unforgiveness you can’t seem to let go of? For help navigating forgiveness, check out The Life of a Single Mom’s The Forgiveness Factor HERE.
• Are there sins in your life of which you have not repented?
• To foster a positive thought life, surround yourself with Christian single moms in a similar life season. To find a single moms’ group near you, find one on The Life of a Single Mom’s national single mom group map HERE.
• Join Single Mom University at no cost to learn more about where you are anchored. Visit www.SingleMomUniversity.com and fill out a scholarship application and mention YouVersion.