“Raising kids were the best years of my life,” my nearly ninety year old neighbor lady told me as I held my fussy baby.
“Soak it up, it goes by fast!” others would say when I had a baby in tow.
“You’ll miss these days” they told me more times than I can count.

I heard these comments so much that I knew them to be true, even though I found them difficult to believe as a mom. After waiting what seemed like an eternity to have kids, I had three in just over three years. I loved them dearly. I loved the baby and littles stage. But it was tough having them all so young at once.

It wasn’t just tough keeping them all alive. Thinking was especially difficult. I mean, thinking of anything outside of keeping track of what and when my children ate, pooped, slept, and all the rest. But the Lord has spoken in His Word about our “mom brain” capacity.

“For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:20).

Have you ever seen little girls who long to be mommies? They play with their dolls like they are real babies. Just like that neighbor who said the best years of her life were raising her kids, so is the case with many moms. It’s crazy and tough and takes more than our whole brain. But it’s also filled with extremely fulfilling moments! Gladness of heart as Ecclesiastes 5 says.

Moms of small children, if you do not have time to consider your own life or plan for the future or think about anything other than your children, take heart. You’re fulfilling this verse in Ecclesiastes 5:20. If your brain is filled with poop, food, and sleep schedules yet your heart is filled with joy for your children, rest easy. You are occupied with gladness of heart in raising those babies. The Lord knows. He sees your labor in mothering and it will not go unnoticed. Someday, you will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9-10).