Can we just be honest and say that being a mom is sometimes isolating? Building relationships as an adult is already hard, but being a parent makes it even more difficult. Motherhood can bond, but it can also separate.
I can't express how lonely I have felt over the past few years. My husband and I got married early and had kids before our other friends. It seems like all our friendships stopped. I can't even tell you how many things I haven't been invited to or been uninvited to just because I'm a mom. People assume we just aren't available so they stop asking or just forget. This has been so hard emotionally. I know others don't realize, but it does cut super deep. No one wants to feel invisible.
Sometimes I feel like the odds are stacked against me. I stay at home with my kids, I'm a pretty extreme introvert, we are a ministry family. We have a different life, and different schedules than others. It's hard to be available, but I want to be.
I know I am guilty of hoping someone will ask to get together and not asking myself. I need to get better at that, I usually let fear or insecurity keep me from that. I want all my relationships to be authentic, but that means I have to be vulnerable, and sometimes I don't want to be. There are days that I just suck as a parent. I make all the wrong decisions and do all the wrong things. This makes me want to avoid my friends so I don't have to admit to being a failure that day, to open myself up for judgment. Even though I know, that won't be the case. Just some of Satan's lies trying to keep me isolated from God's Kingdom.
I have to remind myself ignore the lies. To step out of my insecurities and set up a coffee date with a friend. I have to not feel guilty asking my husband to keep the kids for a couple hours. I have to be okay with showing my vulnerability to my friends, knowing they will accept me and encourage me.
Do you ever feel lonely as a mom? Is it from lack of others reaching out or from your own insecurities? What are some ways that you think can help us foster friendships during such a hard time in life?