Under Pressure

Lately I’ve been feeling it. The pressure.

photo from preservingfoodathome.com

Does anyone else here can? I grew up in a house where canning was a normal thing. We made our own jams, jellies, sauerkraut, canned fish, and preserved fruit and vegetables, etc.

When I became a homemaker, I decided that I would can as well. I just love homemade food and love canning, so I have always done it. I’ve never, however, pressure canned by myself because I don’t have a pressure canner.

Pressure canning is a little bit scary, anyway. You have to watch the pressure valve on the canner to make sure it doesn't build up too much pressure. You do this by controlling the heat of your burner. If you don’t do a good job controlling it, this can happen:

photo from reddit.com

A little scary, right?

Lately, I feel like I’m on the verge of becoming the second picture. I've been feeling the pressure. I need to be a good mother, a good wife, a good teacher, a good daughter, a good granddaughter, a good relative in general, a good friend, a good housekeeper. I need to share my faith, I need to eat right, I need to exercise, I need to…so many things...

And the problem is, I am just me. I am only capable of so much.

I’m sure you’ve seen this picture circulating the Internet. It’s been going around so many times that I couldn’t properly reference it. I do know that some call it “The Weight of Motherhood”. Whenever I look at it, it makes me feel so very sad. Because the mother looks so very sad. And depressed. And oppressed. And her baby is just dangling there across her arm, like he’s at the bottom of all this and she's just barely hanging onto him.

I want to shout at her to lift her head up. I want to tell her not to give in under all the pressure. I want to encourage her to throw her shoulders back, cuddle that baby to her heart, and let whatever falls, fall. 

Because all these things that are piling up on top of her and weighing her down are not that important. Necessary, yes. A normal part of life, yes. But the main thing is that she is a queen doing the vital work of raising her child. If we are focussed on all the stuff that is pressuring her, we forget the most important part of her work.

I need to stop letting the pressure build up on myself. I am just ME. That's all I can be and that's all I should be. And it's enough.

YOU ARE ENOUGH, MAMA!

God bless you,

Lee