Have you ever replayed a moment from your day and wished you could handle it differently?
Maybe you lost your patience in the school drop-off line. Maybe your child needed tenderness, and you responded with frustration. Or perhaps nothing particularly difficult happened—you simply reached bedtime and realized you hadn’t opened your Bible.
Motherhood gives us countless opportunities to love. It also reveals how deeply we need the Lord’s mercy.
This week on The Love Offering Podcast, my dear friend Chelsey DeMatteis joined me to discuss her devotional, Mercy in the Margin. Our conversation reminded me that we can turn toward Jesus in the middle of the life we’re already living.
Meeting Jesus in the meantime
Chelsey described the “meantime” moments scattered throughout our days: waiting in the pickup line, preparing dinner, folding laundry, or having a few minutes before a child wakes.
It’s easy to dismiss those moments. We might assume meaningful time with God requires a quiet room, an uninterrupted hour, and a journal beside an open Bible.
Those times are precious. But we can also pray with our hands in the dishwater.
We can thank Him while preparing a meal. Ask for wisdom before school pickup. Bring Him our concerns during the drive home.
Chelsey recalled crying and praying while cutting sweet potatoes for her son. The moment was brief, but her conversation with the Lord mattered.
First Thessalonians 5:17 calls us to pray continually. There is room for that ongoing conversation in the work already before us.
What ordinary task could become an invitation to pray today?
When our children see us fall short
One of my favorite things about Chelsey is her willingness to tell the truth about motherhood.
She shared a story about arriving at school, becoming frustrated with the drop-off process, and speaking harshly to the staff. By the time she returned to her car, she felt convicted.
So she called the school and asked for forgiveness. Then she spoke with her children about what they had witnessed.
There is something deeply meaningful about a mother saying, “I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”
Our children need our instruction, and they also need to see what repentance looks like. When we confess our sin, take responsibility, and seek to make things right, we demonstrate our own need for Jesus.
God’s mercy gives us courage to be honest. We can bring our failures into the light and take the next faithful step.
If there is a conversation you need to revisit today, you can begin with a simple apology.
Trusting the Father who sees our children
As my children get older and spend more time away from me, I’m learning to surrender them to the Lord in new ways.
Chelsey shared a frightening experience when she was out of town and her parents could not locate her son. From hours away, she could do very little. Her mentor invited her to pray:
“God, you know exactly where Cam is, and you know exactly how to bring him home.”
That prayer brought tears to my eyes.
We have meaningful responsibilities as parents. We teach, establish boundaries, pay attention, and seek help when it is needed. Still, we cannot be everywhere or anticipate everything.
Our heavenly Father knows our limitations. He invites us to bring Him our fear and ask for wisdom.
Trusting Him does not mean every outcome will unfold as we hope. It means we can keep turning to Him as we love our children through each season.
Learning to marvel again
Chelsey also encouraged us to notice the marvelous moments of motherhood.
Sometimes we reach the end of a day and remember only what went wrong. The unfinished work. The disagreement. The appointment we forgot.
But there may have been gifts tucked into that same day: a conversation in the car, a shared laugh, a chance to apologize, or a child asking us to sit beside them.
We can acknowledge what was hard while thanking God for what was good.
Lamentations 3:22–23 reminds us of the Lord’s steadfast love and mercies that are new every morning. We depend on that faithfulness in every season of motherhood.
Before you go to bed tonight, consider asking:
Where did I notice God’s care today?
Where do I need to receive His forgiveness?
What can I entrust to Him before I rest?
He is present in the day you actually lived, including the parts you wish had gone differently.
Listen to the conversation
Join Chelsey and me on The Love Offering Podcast for an honest conversation about prayer, repentance, surrender, and the mercy available in everyday motherhood.
Listen wherever you enjoy podcasts and share this episode with a mother who could use some encouragement.
Connect with Chelsey and explore Mercy in the Margin at chelseydematteis.com.
Find more encouragement and my free Love Always devotional at rachaelkadams.com.
Let’s make our lives an offering of love.
