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Mom Encouragement and Marbles

What do marbles have to do with mom encouragement? Have I lost my marbles? At church this week, our pastor spoke about small things that eventually become big things. His visual aid was moving one marble from a full jar to an empty jar each time a small task was completed. The “things you hope to get done” jar that was full at the beginning had 365 marbles in it. While the other jar was to hold “completed” tasks. I like to call these the “small victory” marbles. One of his examples was going to the gym every day. Each time you go to the gym, you move one marble to the completed jar. If you do this consistently, you eventually have a full or nearly full jar of marbles. The consistent small things add up to major changes in your life!

I would like to apply this message directly to being a mom. The small things that we do make us a big success. Small victories we have every day ADD UP and have a cascade effect on our lives and the lives of those around us.

Small Victories

One thing I like to do, that my husband knows really well, is shout “SMALL VICTORY” when something goes well. Things like empting the dishwasher in the morning (something I hate doing), closing the toothbrush holder (I always forget – sorry babe!), make the bed, get both girls out of their PJs and into outfits before noon, keep the corner of the kitchen counter clean and free of clutter for an entire day, drink a cup of coffee before it gets cold, get my toddler to try a bite of meat…well that hasn’t happened yet, but when it does… SMALL VICTORY!!!!

Are these things silly? Yes. But they are still small victories to me. Some less silly victories are playing with dolls with my toddler while my baby sleeps, go on a walk with both girls, and our toddler saying thank you to someone without being asked to be polite. Whether they are silly or very important, they are all small victories and will add up over time.

Consistent Small Victories is Key

It’s the small things done consistently that will add up to make big impacts on your life and the lives of those around you. Accomplishing small tasks like getting your toddler to pick up two toys today, three toys the next week, and four toys the week after will eventually add up to her picking up after herself completely (a whole jar of small victories leading to a large victory).

Getting a few extra minutes back in the morning because you set out your clothes the night before allows you to get down the stairs before the kids are awake. This gives you time to maybe say goodbye to your husband and to tell him you love him before he leaves for work. This could then make his day better which may result in making someone else’s day better as well. It’s like a snowball of happiness just because you had a few extra minutes in the morning. And since you’re up a little earlier, you could drink a cup of coffee while it’s still hot making your morning better.

Celebrate

Absolutely celebrate the large victories! Your toddler is finally potty trained and that is amazing and you need to celebrate. Oh boy, that definitely was an adventure!

But don’t forget to celebrate all of the small victories. We can put more focus on the small things and usually can accomplish them more easily. You can help others celebrate their small victories too by announcing to the world “SMALL VICTORY!!!” If nothing else, it may make them laugh which is a small victory in itself.

Mom Encouragement

Moms need encouragement. We need the “small victory” marbles to keep us going towards the big picture. If we can take the time to see the small victories in our lives, maybe we can focus more on the positives than the negatives. The same message, unfortunately, holds true in reverse. The negatives can consume you if you let them and can blind you of the great victories you could have in the future. Consistently focusing on the small negatives will only create a big negative over time. But, if we focus on the “small victory” marbles, we will be much happier mommies and soon have a full jar of happy marbles!

I would encourage you to make a note of your small victories or have a jar with marbles that you can add to every time you accomplish a small victory. At the end of a hard day being a mother, take a look at all of the small victories you had. I hope that looking at these small victories will encourage you and let you know you are doing a great job!