It's Okay to Do Hard Things
And my thoughts about work
Culture gives you every reason to quit something difficult. People opt out of motherhood for being hard. They say you should live a soft life as a woman.
However, here is my argument about work:
You were created for it.
I was overwhelmed this week on one particular day.
If you don’t know this, I work a full-time work-from-home job, and I have a beautiful 5-month-old daughter.
Working while taking care of a baby is difficult, but this is what my husband and I have chosen for a short season for multiple reasons.
We are able to sustain this because I am blessed to work with very understanding people that have allowed me to move many of my meetings to two days so that my husband can watch her while I having meetings on those days (since his schedule is different than mine).
That being said, I was particularly overwhelmed on one of the days.
The baby was crying even though I had just fed her. She didn’t want to be in a baby carrier, and I couldn’t stand in one place to get my job done for that reason.
So, I did what anyone would do in this predicament and called my mom.
I don’t know if she could tell, but I was on the brink of crying. I was laying in bed with the baby, breastfeeding her, and telling my mom how hard that day had been for me.
And what she said to me made me want to cry even more:
“It’s okay to do hard things.”
Okay, mom!! Now I want to actually ball my eyes out.
It’s so simple, but it was exactly what I needed in that moment.
A gentle reminder that it’s okay to do something difficult, and work hard. It’s okay to be tired. It’s okay to feel exhausted in this moment.
Because the truth about hard things is that they don’t last forever, and many difficult things in life have fruit at the end of them. Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all labor there is profit”—your work is not wasted.
Work was already here before The Fall, not a result of sin. God made us specifically to work and build with our own hands. Adam found the perfect helper in Eve and God called it good that they be married and tend to the garden.
“that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.”
I Thessalonians 4:11-12 NKJV
It’s why we feel so satisfied after doing something difficult and seeing the fruit of our labor. We enjoy the result of cleaning our home, running a half marathon, folding all of the clothes in the hamper, or hitting a goal.
We build, multiply, and grow. It’s the main reason why people who retire at 65, and stop working on anything at all, start to deteriorate.
I’m not saying work will look like mine, and I’m definitely not prescribing corporate America on every woman who reads this. But, I am saying that working hard, and doing everything unto the Lord has good fruit (Colossians 3:23-24).
For you, work may be being a full-time wife and mother, maybe you’re a single nurse, or work-from-home wife like me. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
So, this is your reminder today that if you’re in a difficult season, it’s okay to do hard things.
“and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.”
Ecclesiastes 3:13 NKJV
Disclaimer: I work from home and take care of my baby full-time because I believe strongly in the idea that mothers should be with their babies if they can make it work, and I don’t trust anyone else watching my child outside of a select few. I won’t work somewhere outside of the home for this reason. To everything there is a season, and this is the season that I am in right now as a young mom. And I am very blessed.
A simple recipe from my kitchen
Note: For the salt - I like this one
I’ve always loved Baby Brew Activities, but they hit different when you actually have a baby to play with.
Everyone says “do playtime with your baby,” but what do you actually do, and how do you know it’s helping them develop?
These card decks make it so easy. They give simple, purposeful activities that support your baby’s milestones, with no special toys needed. My husband and I use them all the time and have loved watching our daughter learn.
They’re offering 10% off for my subscribers 🤍
This is such a good reminder! Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean that it’s bad 😌