Margins Matter, Mama: Giving Room to Breathe

Tonight we will talk about creating margins in our lives so we can avoid frustration and exhaustion as mamas. 

Transcript

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What if we found a way to intentionally leave space in our days so we are not constantly running on empty? We're gonna talk about that tonight on Midlight Mamas. I find this topic to be quite intriguing, especially for me, as I am a busy mama of nine who wears many hats. In fact, I'm even wrapping up college this fall. So I might seem like the very wrong person to be talking about margins in your life, mama, but I find it interesting that God has shown me ways to create pockets of time, to have margins, to have quiet time with Him, and to spend my life pouring out to my family while also refilling my soul. So I want to share that with you tonight because I think it could be beneficial for you so that you do not have to feel like you are running on empty, but that you have enough to give in all of the places that God has called you to. In Mark one thirty five it says about Jesus, and rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. In Luke chapter five and verse sixteen it says, But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. In Matthew fourteen, twenty three it says, And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray, and when evening came he was there alone. And here in Mark chapter six and verse thirty through thirty two it says, The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught, and he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile, for many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat, and they went in a boat to a desolate place by themselves. So you see, Mama, even Jesus, who had this big ministry with all these things pulling on him, knew that one of the most important things he could do was create a margin in his daily life because he knew where his strength and his refreshment would come from, and it would come from getting alone with God the Father and praying. Mama, I think we can take a play out of Jesus' book here, and we can also understand how important it is to go to a place alone to pray. So I want to share with you a little story about a woman named Susanna Wesley, and she was the mother of 19 children. She managed a very full and often chaotic household in the early 1700s, and she was deeply devoted to prayer, but had almost no private time. So when she needed to pray, she would sit down and pull her long apron up over her head. This simple act created like a little tent of privacy right in the middle of the chaos and the noise and the activity, and her children learned that when mother's apron was over her head, she was meeting with God and was not to be interrupted. It became her way of carving out sacred margins in a life that had almost none. And her sons were John and Charles Wesley. So, Mamas, even in the midst of 19 children, Susanna Wesley created a margin of space to get alone with God, even if it was in the middle of the room with her apron pulled up over her head. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So, mamas, I've been thinking, how can we in 2026 be the kind of mother that pours out to our families but also create margins in our lives? And here are some things I'm gonna share with you that I have found in my busy life as a mother that have worked. First of all, I wake up early. And that doesn't mean I get out of bed early. It means I wake up early and I pray before my feet hit the floor, and I tell the Lord my concerns, my thoughts, my schedule for the day, and then I ask God to enter it and say, God, what do you want me to do today? And what works best on your timeline? It may sound silly, but if I don't give these ideas to the Lord, I'll just run on with my day without margins, without checking in, without seeing what God has for me. And so I have found that it's very important to start my day with the Lord, even if it means I am quietly laying in bed talking to Him before I get up. So, Mamas, here's the deal. I know that many of you are up with your babies early in the morning and late at night. These are the opportunities you have to get quiet before the Lord. I remember nursing my babies and thinking, I have to sit down now and stop everything I'm doing and focus on nursing. And at first it felt like a sacrifice to stop what I was doing and do that. But then once I got settled down and hunkered down with my sweet little baby, I was like, God, what a gift that you give us breaks in our day that we have to take as mamas because our babies need us close. And I thought, thank you, God. And I know that some of you don't nurse, some of you bottle feed and whatnot, but no matter what your schedule is or what your feeding system is, just that's a great time to take some margins in your life because they're kind of built in by God anyway, aren't they, mamas? I would also encourage you to find moments to get your babies and your children down for bed at a reasonable time so that you can have some time to take a shower, spend some time with your spouse, and just be still. And I want to encourage you that if that isn't coming yet, it will. With little ones and baby babies, it's hard to have a schedule, but if you can create time and space in your life for that margin at night, it will give you opportunity to recharge your batteries. So in my home, my kids start getting ready for bed around 7 30, 8 o'clock at night, and we get them all the things done reading, Bible time, a song, and a prayer. And I've taught my children that they must be quiet when I'm done with those things. It's not time to visit anymore, it's time to lay in their own beds and have quiet time. They can read, they could even draw, but they're gonna be quiet. And what that's done is taught them that they can take margins in their life at the end of the day as well, and I can have that as a mama. That has saved me in my sanity, and you might find that it will save yours as well. So mammas tonight, I want to leave you with a blessing from numbers six, twenty-four through twenty six. May the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you, be gracious unto you, and give you peace. Amen. Mama, tonight I want to remind you that making space and having margins will give you room to breathe as a mama. So don't fill up every corner of your life. Until next time. Take care, mamas, and we'll talk again soon.