You Are Not Alone

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Someone is on your side…

No one is alone.

These lyrics closed out the final song of the movie Into the Woods, and I felt my heart tug and the tears well up in my eyes.

The movie struck a nerve in me. One that I have felt as a mother and I know that a lot of us as moms struggle with: feeling alone.

Alone in our thoughts, alone in our fears, alone in our worries. Alone in our struggles, alone in our shortcomings, alone in feeling not good enough.

You are not alone. No one is alone.

There is so much I enjoyed about the movie Into the Woods. (Warning: spoilers ahead.) It takes you beyond the happily ever after, breathing real life into the characters as you see their struggles. Cinderella realizes her handsome prince isn’t perfect and yearns for a normal life. Relationships are broken, mothers and fathers are single, children are left without parents, and an unexpected death results in a newly blended family.

But it’s the message at the end that truly grabs your heart. With questions raised about why things happen in life, you are reminded that “you are not alone… no one is alone.”

The song – and the movie – speaks words of having grace on our parents (and ourselves) when making mistakes. (While there were some questionable decisions in the movie, it is the overall theme of grace and forgiveness that I am going with here.) The song reminds us that we are all fighting for our families, doing what we feel is right and best. “You decide what’s good. You decide alone. But no one is alone.”

Because it takes a village, it takes community, it takes the support of those around us to lift us up when we feel alone.

You Are Not AloneOne of the things I love about Des Moines Moms Blog is the community and the real, honest stories of moms like me. They encourage me when I feel like I have reached the end of my rope. They fill me with hope and inspiration when I don’t have the courage or strength. They help me with the mom guilt, the days when I am beyond exhausted, the moments when it is just really, really hard.

These are the times when I feel the most alone. It is one of the biggest lies we believe about ourselves as moms, especially when we are surrounded by Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest posts of our friends’ seemingly perfect lives. We see the put-together mom, happy kids, and delicious, healthy dinners and instantly feel like we fall short. We don’t see the mom who falls apart at the grocery store when her kids misbehave or the fifth night in a row of leftovers or takeout.

Life isn’t a fairy tale. And that’s okay.

Moms, you are not alone. We all feel like we just need to keep on swimming, barely keeping our heads above water.

When you feel like you just can’t do it on your own, you are not alone. Let’s stop trying to fight our own battles. Sometimes it takes asking for help, admitting that you need someone to walk alongside you. It doesn’t make you weak, and it doesn’t make you not good enough. It makes you human. It makes you a mom.

Moms, we are on the same team. You are not alone. No one is alone.

Whatever is weighing on your heart today, know that you are not alone.

If you need the encouragement today, know that you are loved. Someone is on your side.

If you need support and guidance today, know that it’s okay to ask for help. You can even email us at [email protected]. We’d love to pray for you and bless you.

Moms, it’s okay to feel helpless, scared, and beyond exhausted. It’s normal to not have any idea what you’re doing and figuring it out as you go. And it’s okay to make mistakes, to feel guilty, to wish for a vacation, to {fill in the blank}.

You are not alone.

Being a mom is hard. It is beautifully challenging and rewarding at the same time. And moms, we cannot do it without the love and support of one another.

Because we are not alone. And we need each other to be the best moms we can be.

What will you do today to reach out and let a fellow mom know that she is not alone?

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