{"id":1817,"date":"2013-10-31T08:29:08","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T15:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2013-10-31T08:29:08","modified_gmt":"2013-10-31T15:29:08","slug":"good-job-mama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/31\/good-job-mama\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Job, Mama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taken from\u00a0http:\/\/www.itakejoy.com\/good-job-mama\/?utm_content=buffer5a1b9&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joy Forney<\/a><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"Pregnant<\/a><\/p>\n

I watched my kids weave through the pumpkins, enjoying the sun on my face and the brisk autumn air. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a mama, belly ready to burst, buying pumpkins with her little one. He was near 3 years old and a cute little button of energy. I observed as she maneuvered around pumpkins with her pumpkin-sized belly, hand holding her sweet, lively boy.<\/p>\n

He asked for something, she told him no, and two seconds later he was on the ground flailing in the dirt, letting her know *exactly* what he thought.<\/p>\n

I saw the exasperated look in her face, the desperation, the exhaustion, the overwhelmed feelings sweep over her.<\/p>\n

And, quick as that, the Lord whispered to me, \u201cJoy, go over there and put your hand on her shoulder. Whisper to her, tell her she is a great mom, encourage her heart right now.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

My immediate response came just a fast, \u201cLord, she and everyone else here will think I\u2019m nuts! This is America! You don\u2019t just walk over to someone stranger and put your hand on their shoulder!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He urged me gently again, \u201cShe needs your encouragement right now. Go ahead and put your hand on her shoulder and tell her she\u2019s a great mom.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

So I did. I swallowed my embarrassment and my pride and walked over. Face hot and palms sweaty, I put my hand on the dear mama\u2019s shoulder. I quietly whispered, \u201cYou are doing such a great job. Hang in there, mama. We have all been there. You are doing a great job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She looked up at me, startled, and then grateful. She offered a tear-filled, \u201cThank you<\/em>\u201c, and\u00a0we shared some tears and a smile and the knowing bond of motherhood.<\/p>\n

No matter our differences, we all share those desperate mama moments when we need a hand on our shoulder telling us everything will be okay, don\u2019t we?!<\/p>\n

Who do you know that could use a hand on their shoulder, an encouraging word spoken, a smile? Are you like me, you don\u2019t want to appear foolish, so you hold back? Here is my challenge\u2026.\u00a0just do it!!<\/p>\n

Are you like the mama at the pumpkin patch? Do you need encouragement today?<\/p>\n

Leave a comment and let us put our hand on your shoulder, pray for you, and bless you.<\/p>\n

Now, let me whisper to you,\u00a0\u201cYOU are doing such a great job. Hang in there, mama. We have all been there. YOU are doing a great job.\u00a0Good job, Mama.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n

Joy\u00a0GraceFullMama<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– See more at: http:\/\/www.itakejoy.com\/good-job-mama\/?utm_content=buffer5a1b9&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer#sthash.Vo2JkiwC.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taken from\u00a0http:\/\/www.itakejoy.com\/good-job-mama\/?utm_content=buffer5a1b9&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer   October 31, 2013\u00a0by\u00a0Joy Forney   I watched my kids weave through the pumpkins, enjoying the sun on my face and the brisk autumn air. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a mama, belly ready to burst, buying pumpkins with her little one. He was near 3 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,71,90,34,84,80,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-burn-out","category-just-for-fun","category-parenting-2","category-preparing-for-college","category-preschoolers","category-single-parents","category-special-needs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1819,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/1819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}