#47 A Summer Reset For Overwhelmed Moms

Summer has a way of turning even the most grounded mom into a full-time juggler: louder houses, more meals, less structure, and that quiet pressure to “make all the memories.” This episode shares a strength reset you can actually use when the days start to feel bonkers and you’re tempted to believe you have to hold everything together. 

We anchor in Philippians 4:12-13 and talk about what that famous verse really means. It’s not a pep talk about doing it all by yourself. It’s a promise that Jesus gives strength for what you’re called to walk through. We connect daily strength to daily bread, and offer a prayer for when anxiety creeps in.

If you’re craving Christian encouragement, strength in motherhood, and faith-based tools for calmer summer routines, press play. After you listen, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more moms can find this support.

Transcript

Welcome And Summer Pause

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Ciao and welcome to Life Out Loud. I am your host, Desiree Melfi Bozo. We are going to use this space to share experiences and help you find lasting, unshakable, unwavering, unmessable with joy and gratitude. We're going to be throwing around encouragement a little bit like confetti and giving you support to live your very best life.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Ciao friends. Welcome back to the Life Out Loud podcast. I am your host, Desera Melfi Boatso. We are diving in today, episode 47, 47. Let's say that without questioning it. We are diving in to probably the last episode for a little bit and take some time off the summer. Enjoy my boy. Enjoy the heck out of the sunshine and the mitten. Um and we will most likely be back in the fall. Might have gotten a couple of times, share some things with you. I don't know. Not gonna make any promises, but I've spent the last few weeks um focusing on fortifying us, getting ready to go into summer. Two episodes ago, we focused in um dialed in our thinking. Okay. Last time, episode 46, we did a deep dive into gratitude, brought up the journals for you, gave you a peek into my world as far as that goes. I hope it set you up for a good practice. Uh, let me know, please, if it did. I love that kind of stuff. Um, this podcast exists to literally be practical tools and teachings to help you draw closer to Jesus. And so if that last episode did that, I want to know about it.

Philippians And The Strength Theme

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Um, going forward, if any of these episodes are helpful, pass them on to the people you love. This week I want to focus in on strength. And so we are gonna start in Philippians 4, verse 12 and verse 13. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, verse 13, I can do all this through him who gives me strength. We all know that verse. So no matter what comes at us from any direction, this is telling us we can get through it because he is our strength. Summer routines we know can be so exciting. Okay, we know that there's so much excitement around summer. They can also be bonkers' bananas. This is like B-A-N-A-N-A-S, bananas, right? So usually they're more noise, usually there are more meals to prep. Usually it's less structure. Uh lately, more and more I'm hearing like, what are you doing uh to make summer so special? What are your bucket lit? Now we have like summer bucket lit, like a whole thing. It's like I said, bananas. Um, sometimes we enter summer under pressure and lies that sound a little bit like we gotta make all the memories, uh, we gotta keep everyone happy, or I gotta hold all of this together. Are you kidding me? Yes, yes, that is uh what we put on ourselves. So that's just makes me stressed out for us all, right? All of that sounds like a lot of stress. Um, as we sign off today, there's another thing I want to leave us feeling or leave us with, leave us believing. It's that God chose you for your family, okay? And he equips who he calls. Okay. So take all the pressure out of the pressure cooker for a minute, right? Hit that little lever there, that little uh thing, all the steam comes out of the pressure cooker. You know what I'm talking about. I want to let that out for a second. I want to focus in on this that he chose you for your family, even in the most overwhelmed, chaotic times. And not only did he choose you, he equipped you. Okay. So and he didn't do it. Let's make sure we lock into this. It's not because we're perfect, and it's not because uh we have endless pay endless patience. It's because our God is enough. Okay, so we can do it all because he's enough.

Your Calling Stays The Same

SPEAKER_01 4:52

So there's three-ish, three, four, three things I want to focus in on as we head into summer. The first one, as the seasons of motherhood changes, yes, that is a play on uh the season changing. Anyway, uh, the seasons of motherhood change are called doesn't change. Okay, who we are called to be in September and October and November is no different than who we're called to be in May and June and July and August. Okay, being a mom is at random. God did this intentionally for us. There are always days where it feels so holy and perfect. And let's be honest, there are days where we're running through Chick-fil-A's drive-thru with our hair on fire and it's bonkers. Okay. But, and no matter the feeling, God's calling is still there on our lives. The summer days are gonna come when, if they haven't already, summer hasn't started and yet, uh, they're gonna come when we feel tired and we feel stretched and we feel uncertain, maybe even inadequate. We're not uh prepared or strong enough to handle all of this. God's still not gonna change his mind, though. We're still gonna be called no matter how we feel. I want you to think for a second about our boy Moses. I know we've talked about him plenty on here. He stuttered and didn't speak well. And all Moses focused on was what he lacked. God focused on who he was. He was called by God. There's a churchism that I love. It's it's might be cringy, whatever, I don't care. Uh, it's God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. What is that saying? No matter what you have to say about it, you've got this because God's got you and he called you for it. Schedules are gonna change this summer, but our purpose never does. Our purpose never, ever changes. You might be sitting there thinking that's really cool. Uh that's helpful, except uh it's not summer yet, and I'm already totally stressed. So, what am I supposed to do about this? Don't worry, I got you. Point number two.

Strength For Today And A Summer Audit

SPEAKER_01 7:18

So God gives us strength for today, right? Not all summer. Today, when you woke up, God didn't give you strength for July and August, and whenever you're listening to this, He gave you strength for today. Philippians 4, 13. I can do all this who through him who gives me strength. We often misread this. It's it doesn't say I can do all of this myself. Nope, it doesn't say that. It says God gives me strength. He gives us strength for what he asks me to walk through. There's a whole conversation there about what's God asked you to do, what's on your plate and what does he ask you to do? What are you up to over there that God uh hasn't asked you to take on? Are there things that you're stressed about that God actually never told you to do in the first place? Asking for a friend. No, I'm actually asking because uh I just did this in my life. And I was like, oh, I'm stressed about that. And God never even told me to pick it up. Here I am carrying it. What? Stop. Take all the things you're doing and write them down on paper. What did God ask you to do? What did He actually ask you to do versus what did you just take on because the world told you you needed to take on more? I do uh a summer audit. I encourage you to do that. It's exactly what it sounds like. Summer audit. What do you end up with? What has God asked you to take on, and what hasn't he asked you to take on? And what do you fill in your summer days with? The other piece to this is that God won't hand us strength for June through August. He's gonna give us strength for today. Whatever day you're listening to this, give us this day our daily bread. Think about the manna in Exodus. When they were in the wilderness, God gave it daily. He said, Don't store it up. This is your daily bread for today. Dependence grows with God day by day. When we can exercise dependence on him, we can be confident that he's going to show up. Right? Can I get through all summer? No, you can't, and neither can I. But I can get through today. Because he gave me enough for today. Dare I say more than get through. Also, there's something to be said about thriving and enjoying it. Okay. We have to stop borrowing tomorrow's worries and be where our feet are today. Even when we know uh God provides strength, uh, anxiety is fun and it still can creep in and make us worry. Yeah, because the devil's a liar. So I'm leaving you with this last point.

Anxiety To Prayer Exchange

SPEAKER_01 10:04

God never intended us as moms to carry everything alone. Philippians 4, verse 6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We don't have to be anxious about it. He's literally telling us not to be. God didn't say, uh, fake it till you make it. God didn't say, pretend you're okay. He didn't say any of that. He said, bring it to me. He said, sweetheart, bring it over here. Quit trying to muscle through it on your own. You're not meant to do this alone. As moms, we carry everything. And after carrying everyone's everything, we can start to feel really anxious. But prayer is an exchange of grace. We give him our stuff and he gives us his grace. We hand him the chaos and he gives us the peace. We hand him the worries and he gives us the peace, right? It's that moment that sometimes happens when you're carrying in a load of groceries, or like you get home from Costco, and God forbid we have actual bags uh for stuff from Costco. We just have uh 1,700 different items in our car, uh, and you're trying to carry them all in, and your husband opens the door and says, Give me that. Do not carry that on your own. That's what it looks like, lived out real time, right? God's saying, hand over your worries to me, your big Costco size worries, hand them to me. Take them off your shoulders. He's there at every pass doing that for us.

Final Encouragement And Ways To Connect

SPEAKER_01 12:06

So as we head into summer, as we get ready to bebop along into the sunshine, I want you to remember that in the most chaotic moments, God called you for those moments. Not only did he call you, he equipped you. God gives you strength for today, not for tomorrow or next week or next month. Today. And the last one, he doesn't have you carry it alone. This was short, this is sweet. I hope it was helpful as we bebop our way into the most gorgeous that the mitten has to offer this summer. Friends, it has been a joy to hang out with you on the airwaves. I will hopefully pop on here uh throughout the summer. If I don't, I will see you in the fall. Come back next time. Uh, I will throw more encouragement around like confetti, also scripture. Be careful. If you get too close, you're definitely going to get some on you.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Cheers. Thank you for joining me, Desiree Melfi Bozo, for this episode of Life Out Loud. I would love to hear from you. Leave me a comment, tell me what topics you want to talk about, and how you take your coffee. If you enjoyed what you heard, text a friend the link, share it on social media, or if you're interested in becoming a supporter, beep up over to my webpage, lifeoutloud.me, and sponsor a cup of coffee that keeps this podcast fueled. Until next time, sweet listeners.