There I was in the middle of Wal-Mart wrestling my one year old into the shopping cart. He started this awful phase of fighting sitting in the cart. It doesn’t matter what bribery I bring up, if I put him in the front or back, he isn’t getting in. He screams at the top of his lungs and then tries to climb out. I try to keep walking and ignore the people staring at me and maybe he will stop. Maybe if the cart keeps moving he will realize I am not giving in. But then the stares and glares from those in the store start to pierce my soul and I can’t do it any longer. I pull him out. Here I am with my pregnant belly, a toddler who won’t cooperate on my hip, and pushing a cart one handed through the store. I feel like I just let my toddler win the battle I didn’t want to give in on, but I didn’t want to ruin public sanity either. I lost this battle and I feel like I can’t get it right.

Instead of fighting my toddler, I gave in. What if I just set myself up for failure? What if the little battles I choose not to fight today are the very battles that haunt me later? I know it’s important to choose your battles, but what if I choose the wrong ones? How am I supposed to do this mothering thing right if I don’t even know what I am doing? How do I get this right?

This being a mom thing is tough. We want with everything in us to do this parenting thing right. We look for all the advice, we look for all the books, we listen to all the podcasts. We search and search for the answers on how to handle what we are facing in our current season of parenting. We want to get it right.

But we are going to fail. There are going to be times where we don’t get it right. There are going to be times where we make mistakes. All the advice in the world isn’t going to keep us from making mistakes. Your child is not like any other child. We have to work and grow at becoming the parent they need, the parent we are meant to be. We won’t become the mom who does everything right over night, just like our child won’t be the most perfectly behaved child over night. This mothering this means a lot of growth, for us and for them. We aren’t always going to get it right, but there is one thing that will remain true, and that is that you are the right mother for your child.

God chose you to be the mother of that child. He chose you to be their mom when you get it right, and He chose you to be their mom when you don’t get it right. He knew when and how you were going to fail and He still chose you. He chose you  because you were the right person for the job. In those moments where we are at loss at what to do, we have to trust that God is guiding us step by step. That still small voice that is grounding us within is also guiding us. When we don’t know what to do, when we feel like we are messing up in this motherhood gig, He says He has us. He is walking with us and He is guiding our every step.

Mama, you won’t always get it right, you are going to make mistakes. But you are learning and you are growing. God is growing you just as much as He is growing the children He placed in your care. Take a deep breath and rest in the guidance of your Heavenly Father. He’s got you, and most importantly He’s got them.