sweet motherhood: Becky Haight

i am so excited for today. today we begin the sweet motherhood series here, featuring some pretty sweet moms. motherhood is such a beautiful privilege, one that is exhausting but so incredibly rewarding with that said, it's also meant to be celebrated and highlighting these moms is my pleasure! my hope with this series is that we may find encouragement from one another and build a closer community.

starting us off is the gorgeous becky from apples of gold. she's one of the first moms i connected with and it's been such a blessing getting to know her and her heart. her writing is always so encouraging and i know one day we'll see her book at barnes and noble!

blog / instagram

so, wanna know her thoughts on motherhood? here's what she shared:

becky, tell us a little bit of your story and who you are a mom to?

I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. I lived there with my parents for twenty-three years before God decided it was time to uproot me by introducing me to the man of my dreams (literally, I dreamt about him years before I ever met him. Cool stuff.)

I met Jon on Myspace in February of 2009. God became all kinds of cool in my eyes when I realized He was willing to use Myspace to link me with my future husband. We were married in November of 2010 and I finished college and moved to California the following month. About ten months later I gave birth to our baby girl, Rebekah Rosalie, ("Bekah" for short) who has pretty much turned our world upside down, one sleepless night at a time. She's about two and a half years old now.

motherhood isn't always what we expect, what about motherhood surprised you or has been different than what you expected it to be?

You ain't kiddin'! Before marrying Jon I had this pie-in-the-sky expectation of what motherhood would be like for me. I was the only girl (I knew of) who actually wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. 

While all of my college friends were dreaming of amazing careers in all kinds of cool fields, I was dreaming of changing diapers, strolling around with my very own baby, and someday homeschooling a few kids of my own. Today I'm living that dream, except it doesn't feel very dreamlike. It's exhausting on all kinds of levels, but incredibly rewarding nonetheless. 

Honestly, what surprised me most about my own mommy experience were those initial months when sleeping was a thing of my past and staying up all night with my sweet babe was what I was forced to do. Most days I felt delirious. I have never been able to function very well on small amounts of sleep. The lack of sleep mixed in with my post-pregnancy hormones worked together to create about the worst torture I've ever had to endure, labor pains aside. [I'm being dramatic here, but seriously, it was misery.] Thankfully my mom flew in from New York to come to my rescue for 3 weeks. Thank God for moms! 

being a mom is hard work, isn't it? but always rewarding. what do you enjoy most about motherhood?

I'd say what I enjoy most is seeing the fruit of my hard work shine through in my daughter's attitude and behavior. She is your typical rough-around-the-edges two year old, but she says "please" and "thank you," and she is sweetly confident when surrounded by other kids her age. That's enough to let me know that, despite her tantrums these days, she's learned a thing or two from me and her dad. [Phew!]

let's talk balance. how do you find balance in tending to your daughter and also caring for yourself emotionally and physically?

Balance is something I've struggled with from the very beginning of my mom journey. It wasn't until recently (as in, the last few months) that I realized it would probably do me some good to invest in myself. That's when I accepted the long-standing offer of heading to the gym with my husband (who was, by the way, absolutely thrilled when I finally said 'yes.') 

That decision alone was probably the best decision i've made in years. It's increased the bonding time between me and Jon by leaps and bounds. It has also made me feel better physically, which means I now have a lot more energy to chase after my little runner. And more energy means an emotionally content and overall happier me!

When it comes to my spiritual well-being I do my very best to wake up each morning and have some quiet time with God before starting my day. I am so much more productive and efficient in what I do as a mom when I seek God first thing in the morning and allow Him to order my steps.

as moms we strive to teach and show our children lessons shaping them as they grow, however, what is the one thing that you would want your children to grab on to and never forget?

There's nothing I want more for Bekah than for her to grow up trusting in the Lord with all her heart. Those two verses in Proverbs (chapter 3, verses 5 and 6) have been lifelines for me during my most difficult times. 

I've read them more than any other verses in my Bible and they never lose their power or impact on my heart. I want Bekah to be a trust warrior, believing in God when all else fails her, knowing He will direct her on the right path, always. 

becky, mothers need encouragement always. what words of wisdom or encouragement would you offer to other moms?

I think many of us moms struggle with feelings of inadequacy that stem from comparing ourselves to the picture perfect moms we see on Instagram, Pinterest, or other blogs. We tend to assume these "supermoms" have some kind of secret to motherhood that we don't have. We are so wrong. There's not one mom in the world who doesn't have struggles. If you meet a woman who claims being a mom is easy, just know she's lying through her teeth. 

The bottom line: being a mother is HARD work. Don't compare your mommy skills to anyone else's. Just do your best and, with God's help, your best will be more than enough. 

...............

amen sister! i gotta say, desiring for your little one to be a trust warrior got me choked up. such a beautiful prayer. thank you becky, so much for sharing here today! 

you can find becky's writing at her blog and also follow her everyday adventures with her precious bekah through instagram, @golden_applesauce