How To Handle Motherhood Overwhelm: Toddlers and Pausing to Worship

There is nothing more fun than 9 AM on Friday morning when we are loaded in the van with lunches packed and on our way to a fun playdate when Mom says…

“No one is allowed to speak for the entire next song. I am feeling overwhelmed.”

Fun day Friday, for sure.

---

We are in our “why” phase with one of our kids.

I remember this phase. It gave me anxiety and activated my fight or flight response more often than I care to admit when we went through it for the first time.

This time around, if my response is inadequate, incomplete, or deemed incorrect then I and met with a “no, no, no” followed by the child asking the exact same question with the exact same wording but with new emphasis and a touch of exasperation.

Oh, and an older child simultaneously trying to clarify the question (sometimes accurately, sometimes confusing the situation more) .

I know he is asking questions to make sense of his expanding experiences, but I do also feel that I am set up to fail many times each day.

I try the “why do you think?” Or “how do you think it works?” Or whatever other reply I can offer to get the heat off me, but alas, on that Friday morning, I remained overwhelmed by 9 AM on that playdate commute.

So, I banned the car from speaking for the entire next song.

Then Holy Forever by Chris Tomlin came on the radio.

Bless.

The song began, and in the first bars of the song all the questions we typically discuss with Holy Forever flashed through my mind:

• Why the angels crying?
• What’s creation?
• Why earth crying?
• Do we live on earth?
• Where’s earth?
• Who is the King?
• Is he powerful?
• Is Jesus dead?
• Why he on the cross?
• Why they not like him?
• Why they not believe what he say?
• But is he in heaven?
• Where’s God?

I love the song but am always fielding our little theologians’ questions during it.

This time though, no one was allowed to speak, so I let go of those impending questions and allowed the lyrics of the song to become my own moment of worship.

I would address the questions later.

---

We all have questions. We will always have questions.

No matter how old we grow or how much we know, there will always be more to learn.

I could do worse than demonstrating what it looks like to pause and worship when feeling overwhelmed.

So could you.

Pause. Worship.

It is worth it.