112 | When Your Problems Feels Bigger Than You: How To Find Peace In The Chaos

Hey Mama!

In this episode, we're diving deep into the heart of what it feels like to carry the weight of overwhelm, mom guilt, and self-doubt—especially when life feels completely out of control. Whether you're navigating sick kids, missed plans, or just the emotional chaos of motherhood, this conversation will remind you that you are not alone, and more importantly, that you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.

If you've been Googling things like "Christian mom encouragement," "how to overcome mom guilt," or "what to do when motherhood feels overwhelming"—this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways:

• How to admit that the struggle is real and let go of the pressure to “do it all”
• The importance of shifting your focus from chaos to Christ to find lasting peace
• A simple, faith-filled way to pause in the middle of the mess and reconnect with God

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I'm excited to connect with you! Remember, you can do hard things!
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"- Philippians 4:13

Transcript

0:00

What do you do when everything feels like it's falling apart? When your problems feel louder than your peace and you simply can't catch a break, maybe you're juggling sick kids, a to-do list that's piling up a mile high or struggling through the thoughts and feelings of not being enough. Today, I'm sharing how you can find peace and the chaos even when it feels impossible. Let's dive in. Hey, mama. Are you tired of wrestling with self-doubt and wondering if you're truly enough? Do you find yourself questioning your worth even though you know God has called you for more? If you said yes and you're ready to walk in confidence, enjoy your calling without guilt and trade overwhelmed for peace. then you are in the right place. I'm Caroline Tao, host of the Restored Mind, and I'm so glad you're here. let's invite God into the space and step into the freedom he has for you. Are you ready? Let's go. if you've been looking for a community that gives you support and fun challenges, you're in the right place because I have a free community just for you. It's filled with moms who are struggling with mom guilt and they're trying to find ways to be more fulfilled. And they're partnering with God for this. So I want to personally invite you to join my free community. It's a place where we gather together to share faith-based encouragement so that we can grow stronger as moms. You've heard the saying it takes a village to raise children, right? well I believe it takes a village to lift one another up. So what are you waiting for? Click the link in the show notes and join us today. I can't wait to see you there and to start this journey with you. There was a time where my husband was deployed and all three of my kids got sick, and honestly it was like a domino effect because it started out with sluggish movements and then fever and then projectile vomiting. Yes, you heard that right. Projectile vomiting. It was. Not the best time. That week was a week that I struggled to the extent of me wanting to just quit and go and hide somewhere. The crazy part was that my two youngest children, so my two daughters, they had never experienced that type of violent vomiting before where your body tenses up and I could imagine there were throats also hurting from just how. Much they were throwing up and so they were of course scared and the only thing they could do was follow through with what their body's natural reaction was, as it was getting rid of whatever it was in their system. So, as you can imagine, there was a lot of chaos in that time because I had one person crying because they wanted to be held, another person needing endless baths because one of them, my oldest daughter, was so exhausted that as she threw up, she would just lay in that vomit and it meant that I had to give her baths and wash her clothes multiple times during the day. And it just wasn't from her. It was from all three kids. There's a lot of emotions and frustrations that came over me that day, and I began to feel incredibly small in that time because I felt like I wasn't capable of handling all three of them being sick at the same time. And it made me feel bad as a mom because I felt like I should have been equipped for this and that I shouldn't be frustrated in the way that I was. But here's some things that I wanna share with you today to encourage you in this season of you feeling overwhelmed or feeling like you're not enough. The first one is to admit that the struggle is real because there are gonna be days where life presents itself as a hot mess, and sometimes we don't know which direction that's going to go in. But what we do want is an immediate calm, especially in the chaos that interrupts our normal routine. It's so easy to get flustered and caught up in the feelings of frustration, especially when. We have other things planned, right? So when you make the mindset shift, mama, that you'll have days where you struggle more than others, it can soften the pressure that you might have unintentionally placed on yourself to get all the things on your to-do list completed, because let's get real. When you fall behind that to-do list is only going to grow, and the bigger it grows, the more out of hand things feel, making you feel tiny against all of the things that you want and need to get done. When this happens, I want to encourage you to take a step back and remember that you don't need to carry the weight of what's happening in your world on your shoulder. Instead, take a moment. I. To pause in the chaos and surrender your frustrations, your fear, and whatever else it is to God. Now, this my friend, is not a magic pill that erases frustrations instantly. So don't surrender these things with that kind of expectation, but it does set you up from my next point, which I'll share in just a second. In the meantime, I wanna finish out this thought by reminding you of this one thing, and that is when you find yourself carrying the weight of your world on your shoulder. Find a reason to be grateful. It is very challenging to do that, but the more that you practice this, the less you end up seeing your challenges as something that's impossible to overcome. Both of these things combined, taking a moment to pause and then finding a reason to be grateful actually leads us to the point that I wanted to share just a second ago, which is shifting your focus onto God, because when you shift your focus onto God, it doesn't mean that you ignore what's happening around you. Even though it might feel like your problems are piling up and has become too big to handle, it means that you are choosing to focus on God's greatness over your weaknesses and your circumstance, which changes everything. it can actually begin to calm the storm for you. He is the one. God is the one who's going to bring you this peace. In Matthew chapter 14, we learned that Jesus walks on water. And if you know me, or if you've been hanging out with me for quite some time, you know that I am going to be reading scripture. So if you are able, my friend, bring out that Bible and open up to chapter 14 in Matthew. And while you're doing that, I am going to give you a brief summary of what's happening Jesus has now given the disciples orders to get on a boat. Once he saw that there was a great crowd around him, he then dismisses the crowd and then went up the mountain by himself to pray. And when night came, the boat that the disciples were in were already far away from the land, In scripture, it talks about the fourth watch of the night, which according to the English standard version, the footnote says that it is between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. And by this point, the disciple now sees Jesus walking on water and they become terrified. So we're gonna pick up at verse 27. Now, hope that you're there already if you're able to follow along with the Bible in your hand. If not, it's okay to just listen along. But verse 27 says, immediately he spoke up to them saying, take heart. It is, I do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, which the footnote here also says strong wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying, oh, you of little faith. Why did you doubt? And when they got onto the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him saying, truly, you are the son of God. So why is this important? I believe it's because it highlights how naturally you and I focus on things that are going wrong. Maybe it's the sickness of your children or the mess in your house, or just the overwhelm in general. It all demands. Your attention, but you zoom in on only the problems, much like I did when I was caring for three sick babies all on my own. And when you focus only on the problem, you lose sight of the peace that God gives. Just like Peter focusing on the strong wind, instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus. But all is not lost because it also says here in scripture that Jesus immediately reached out his hand For Peter, however, I wanna take a moment and focus on Peter because something had to take place first. Can you guess what that might be? Peter cried out to Jesus saying, Lord, save me and this right here for me, as I see it, is an act of submission and acknowledging that he cannot do it himself and is in desperate need for someone mightier than him. He puts his faith and his trust in Jesus. I think this is an inspiring way that you can begin to shift your mind and intentions instead of staying in the frustrated emotions and to the overwhelm that you're feeling, I encourage you to cry out to Jesus, acknowledging that you need him. This can be something that you do in the midst of your chaos that doesn't require you to take a lot of time. I would encourage you to simply take a breath, take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, say the words, Lord, I need you. Or as Peter says, Lord, save me. there is no telling when your kids are going to get sick or when the work that you've planned for the day is going to slow down or even come to a complete stop because something else is calling for your attention that is more urgent. And it can definitely be frustrating and out of frustration, you can end up spiraling because you're trying to make up for lost time or fix everything all at once. But peace comes when you break it down and. Focus on the next small step. So you might not be working on what you've planned on doing that day, but in the moment, what is the next step that you can take? You don't need to have all the answers and the solutions right at this moment, mama. But focusing on your child who might need a little more of your attention today is not by any means a mistake and look at it in a positive light. You're spending more time with your child, which deep down internally you want to do anyway, right? And the quality time that you're spending with your child might look a little bit differently. You might not be playing board games or going out and doing something fun. Maybe this quality time is just snuggles and a nap time. so I encourage you to take a moment and really just embrace the abrupt change that has happened in your plan. And honestly, even in the chaos of possibly doing endless laundry and giving endless baths because there was upset tummies in your home or whatever that abruptness looks like. There is still peace in knowing that you have not been left alone, even when it feels like it. And you can begin to take a step, a small step at a time by honestly pausing to reassess the situation and asking what is one thing that you can do right now that is going to help you feel a little more in control? Maybe it's letting go of the plans that you have for the day. Or maybe it's taking a deep breath and remembering God focusing on him. So Mama, what does that look like for you? Think about it and then move forward with it. Okay, so that was a lot, right? It probably felt intense because I felt like I was reliving that moment with the emotions that came rushing back as I was thinking about that time when I was taking care of all three sick kids while my husband was deployed. But let's recap really quickly. When you're trying to find peace in the chaos, you have to acknowledge that the struggle is real. There are going to be days that presents itself as a mess, and sometimes we won't know which direction to go in. And when you make that mindset shift that you're going to have days where you struggle more than others, it is going to soften the pressure that you might have unintentionally placed on yourself to get everything on your to-do list completed. Also, take a step back and remember that you don't need to carry the weight of what is happening in your world on your own or all at the same time. and then we talked about shifting your focus onto God, that is where you choose to focus on God's greatness over your weakness and your circumstances. we read through Matthew chapter 14, and I talked about Peter and his actions, right, and how he cried out, Lord, save me. Last but not least, we also talked about taking it one step at a time, Because peace comes when you're able to break down your circumstances and focus on the next small step. Remember, you don't need to have all the answers and the solutions right at this moment. So mama, I hope that this helped you today as you begin to turn to God and shift your focus in the midst of your chaos. Remember that you are not too small for what you're facing. I know that it's hard, but you can do hard things. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I had such a wonderful time. I cannot wait to meet you again next Wednesday. Right here on this podcast. Mamma. I hope that as you are inspired and uplifted, that you would show up at all the spaces and places ready to serve with a joyful heart. And yes, with confidence. Please take a moment to leave a review on apple podcasts. It would bring me so much joy hearing from you on top of that. If you want to connect even more, join the insider's list. I would love to continue helping you as you journey on in getting God centered confidence. The link to join the insider's list is going to be posted in the show notes.. All right, my friend, this is where we part ways. I hope you have a wonderful day. Go in peace.