Just in time for Mother’s Day, we have a very special episode of the It’s Life Podcast. Jenny sits down one-on-one with Miss Tammy, our senior pastor’s wife, mom of four, and grandmother of twelve, for an honest, warm, and hilarious conversation about what motherhood actually looks like from the inside. Whether you are waiting and hoping, knee-deep in the newborn stage, navigating teenagers, or parenting adult children, this episode has something in it just for you.
We start with a story that only a mom could tell, and it involves a kindergartener, a tall slide, and a very logical five-year-old who did not want to lose his place in line. What follows is a conversation that doesn’t shy away from the real stuff. Miss Tammy opens up about her own journey to motherhood, including the miscarriage she wrestled with guilt over, the stillbirth that broke her heart, and the season of trying when nothing seemed to happen. Through all of it, she found her footing in one simple truth: God gives children. They are gifts from him. And the timing of when a child arrives in this world is wrapped up in something far bigger than any of us can see.
From there, Miss Tammy walks through every season of motherhood with the kind of wisdom that only comes from having lived it. The newborn stage: you will sleep again, but don’t wish it away too quickly because there is nothing like the smell of a new baby and they will not stay small forever. The toddler years are hilarious and unpredictable and gone in a blink, so write down the funny things they say because you will want to go back and read them. The elementary years are a sweet season of watching them become their own person, but also the time to start building the kind of open and safe relationship that means they will still want to come to you in the teenage years when the stakes are higher. And the adult child years may be the hardest season of all, learning when to share your voice and when to hold back, trusting that the work you did while they were in your home is still at work in them.
The conversation takes an honest turn when the topic of mom guilt comes up. Miss Tammy’s response is direct and freeing. The Lord does not make you feel guilty. He lovingly corrects. When the weight of not being enough starts pressing in, that is the enemy attacking your identity, not God speaking to your heart. Bring it to the cross, ask the Lord what he wants from you today, and do that. That is enough.
Miss Tammy also shares some of the most practical things she did to keep Jesus at the center of family life, including playing worship music in the car and at home, pointing out God’s creation on a walk or at a ball field, and asking the right questions at bedtime to keep little hearts connected to gratitude and to God. And her word of encouragement for every mom? Keep your eyes on Jesus, because you have no idea who God has placed in your home or what he plans to do through them.
This one is worth sharing. Send it to a mom who needs to hear it today.