In the last 20 minutes, I've literally heard the beckoning of "Mama" 38 times. Literally. To keep my sanity, I started counting. As I lay my youngest down to sleep, I pondered the huge milestones we'd met this week of potty training and weaning all intermingled with the frustration and just plain exhaustion of, "Mama, Mama, Mama."

In my heart, I cried out to the Lord to strengthen, encourage, and bless me for the rest of this day and all that it still held... And for the many, many "Mamas" that had yet to be said... 

• Breast or bottle.
• Forward-facing or rear-facing.
• Homeschool or public school.
• Attachment parenting or cry it out.
• Baby wearing or stroller.
• Store bought puree or baby led weaning.
• Cloth or disposable.
• Early education or delayed instruction.
• Formal lessons or unschooling.
• Classical or Charlotte Mason.
• Textbooks or living books.
• Crafts or free play.
• Packed lunch or lunchroom.
• Organic or not.
• Essential oils or a doctor visit.
• Paleo or convenience foods.
• Homeschool for life or homeschool for now.
• Time outs... Positive reinforcement... Or spanking?
• And let's not even get into the decisions we make with our teenagers!

It never ends. As moms, we make thousands of decisions daily, big and small, and no matter where we look, our friends, family, media, and experts are all telling us (directly or indirectly) that we are doing it WRONG. The world shouts that out of all the choices, the one we made isn't the BEST. There's a better way...

We make THOUSANDS of small decisions daily, my friend. 

• Should I get out of bed?
• Should I work? 
• Should I cook breakfast?
• Should I shower?
• Should I drive safely?
• Should I respond to this text?
• How should I respond to my husband?
• When should I respond to my whining child? 

Opportunities to decide come relentlessly. We make so many in a day that we develop habits to overcome the overwhelm of the constant thinking required for all of these decisions. We don't think through EVERY single decision. At some point, we made a decision in the past, and it went well, so we settled into following those ruts so that we no longer have the stress of having to make that decision every single time. Our habits help us cope with the magnitude of the everyday. 

Basically, we set our lives on auto-pilot, and we do this despite the fact that our habits (pre-decided decisions) change our lives.

Our habits don't just CHANGE our lives; they ARE our lives.

I've recently admitted that I yell at my children... and it's all because I'm lazy. I'm confident I'm not alone in that, and so far the internet hounds have not come baying at my door. So, just to be fully transparent, I thought I'd also confess that I'm also not an encouraging mom like I once thought myself to be. And this realization has hit my like a ton of bricks.

I came to slowly know Christ just over a decade ago. He came to me in the darkest period in my marriage and let me know that despite having failed in every way imaginable, that I was still loved. He humbled me and brought me into his fold where I have safely and confidently resided ever since. Since my marriage to Christ, we've been in a sweet honeymoon period- for literally a decade. Jesus saved me from myself and let me know I was loved without fail when I was absolutely unlovable. He changed my heart, my mind, my priorities, my perspective, my marriage, my parenting- literally almost every ounce of me has been made new in Christ (except my potty-mouth, but he's still working).

I have passionately loved him for it and pursued him with fervor- most of the time. Some of the time, I have not. Some of the time, I am overly confident that I can handle things on my own. Some of the time, I feel like everything is going fine, and I don't need him quite as much. Some of the time, I forget just how sinful I truly am.

I absolutely LOVE books. I love a book that leads me to the Cross, reminds me of God's abundant grace, convicts me of unrecognized sin, and helps me love my husband or children better. God's Word is my go-to for all of those things, but there's something special about hearing experiences and lessons from other people, just like me. (Here's my very favorite note-taking Bible by the way. I'm an ESV girl.) I want to share some of my FAVORITE books of all time that I think are the perfect fit for any Mama looking to grow in any area of her life.

So, I prayed hard and identified 6 books that have been extremely influential in my life. I wanted to give you a quick rundown of each of them here, so you can know WHY I love them so much.

I absolutely LOVE books. I love a book that leads me to the Cross, reminds me of God's abundant grace, convicts me of unrecognized sin, and helps me love my husband or children better. God's Word is my go-to for all of those things, but there's nothing like hearing experiences and lessons from other people, just like me. (Here's my very favorite note-taking Bible by the way. I'm an ESV girl.) 

So, I prayed hard, and identified 6 books (and a journal) that have been extremely influential in my life. I wanted to give you a quick rundown of each of them here, so you can know WHY I love them so much!