Just because I love being a mom, doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes miss the carefree days when I only had myself to worry about.
And just because I feel nostalgic for those days, doesn’t mean I would ever, ever let my babies go.
Just because I talk about the hard parts of motherhood—the parts that keep me awake at night and make me cry ugly tears—doesn’t mean it’s not all worth it.
And just because I know it’s worth it, doesn’t mean it’s not really dang tough sometimes.
Just because I say marriage is so much harder than I ever imagined it would be, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t choose my husband over and over again in a million different lifetimes.
And just because I love him so, doesn’t mean we don’t have growing pains that are sometimes hard to see past.
Just because I’m so, so very grateful for the endless blessings I’ve been given, doesn’t mean I can’t be frustrated that my house is never clean and my life feels so disorganized.
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And just because I sometimes feel exhausted and utterly defeated by those things, doesn’t mean I don’t realize how ridiculously lucky I am.
We can feel both things, mamas. We can feel ALLLL the things.
One emotion doesn’t discount the opposite.
Venting doesn’t make us ungrateful.
Crying doesn’t make us blind to the beauty.
Struggling doesn’t make us too weak to hold the weight of this crazy, breathtaking, worry-filled, heart-filling role.
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Just because I love being a mom, doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy sometimes.
And just because it’s heavy, doesn’t mean I would ever, ever give it up.
This post originally appeared on Bouncing Forward