I can’t just talk about Mommy Isolation and not give you guys the good news! There is a beautiful invitation awaiting us in the seasons of isolation. God is gently calling, patiently waiting, ready to fill us with His Love. Today, I want to focus on leaning into the isolation and solitude. I want to discuss ways that God may be calling us, as new mothers, in this season of our lives. I think we all feel isolated to a certain extent. Some more then others. However, there is a small ache inside all new moms, and I truly believe it is God trying to commune with us. I want to share the ways in which God has been trying to get my attention the past 10 months.
As I sat, rocking Cooper in our rocker, nothing but silence filled the air. I was unable to move. One sudden jerk would send him into another inconsolable break down. Laying him down wasn’t worth the risk, so I accepted my spot on the recliner. As I sat there, I could feel the impatience. The need to be doing something. The need to be busy. It wasn’t until later that I realized this need to be busy is an obsession our culture thrives on. Many of us do not know how to just be. I didn’t like the silence and solitude. There was to much time to myself. I wanted to sleep or do something else that made me feel productive. (Yes, sleep is very productive in the newborn stage).
It was months later that I realized there was an important lesson to be learned in the solitude. Rocking our babies gives us time to just be. To sit and enjoy this season of life, and to even invite God to speak to us. Silence is an important lesson; one that is very hard to learn. Our world is all about go go go. We are constantly filling our time and moments of silence with noise. We pull out our phones, we turn on the TV, we go to busy places, all in an effort to quiet the internal voice. Some of us find solitude boring, while others are running from their own thoughts.
Rocking your baby brings you face to face with silence. A silence you’ve been longing for, but now that you have it there is a sudden urge to do something. Sitting still seems like a waste of time. Your choices are to move and disrupt the baby or be still. I wanted to move. I took the risk often and it always blew up in my face.
I finally took a deep breath and tried to invite God into these moments. He was there in the silence. He was with me as I rocked my baby. He was calling to me as my mind raced around all the things I wanted to get done. He was asking me to breathe and be still.
One day it hit me that I have been presented with a unique opportunity. I realized that I am in a season of life where I have time to just be. Things will get busy. Chaos will be thrown at me from every direction. I have the opportunity right now to ground myself in God. I have the chance to learn as much as I can and create good habits, so that when things do get wild I have my feet firmly planted. The isolation and solitude is really an invitation to learn and grow in love with God.
To be honest, as I write this post Cooper is fighting his nap. And I am fighting him because I want to get things done. I want to check things off my to-do list. But, maybe God is calling me to be still. Maybe, He is inviting me to lean into the quiet isolation and just be there with Him. Maybe, He’s telling me to hold my baby tight and enjoy these moments together. The busyness of our lives sometimes drowns out the important things. I pray we can embrace the quiet seasons of life and use them to grow in love with God.
Lord, teach me to be content with being still. Show me how to find You in the quiet isolation. Grant me the awareness to truly enjoy these moments with my growing boy. I know it will all be over to soon.
You are so right, embrace the stillness
I looked back at the years gone by and as I listen to your thoughts I have a few thoughts of my own. Why didn’t I take more time to “just be”? Why was it so important to check things off on the list?
When I observed my elderly mom in the past few years of her life, she still had that same urge to “get up and move”. Sadly all she had time and ability to do was sit all day. I know her thoughts connected to Our Lord during those days. I imagine her prayers were different as she got closer to eternal life. It’s also likely she reflected often on days gone by and how she may have done things differently.
You will be rewarded when you are in the last chapter of your life when you look back and think of these days when you sat in the silence with your child in your arms and your prayers asking for the guidance to do it right.
You, my dear daughter-in-law, are an exceptional woman, wife and mother!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. It is a difficult thing to do but definitely worth the effort! I can only imagine your mother in the final years of her life, struggling to sit still, but what a beautiful blessing, as surely God was preparing her for eternal life.