My mom answered the phone. “Hey! What are you up to?” I asked casually even though I knew that she was sitting at her desk at work – just like she was every Tuesday at 2:15.
I think she answered me, but I wasn’t really listening. Honestly, she could have told me that she was meeting the President for afternoon tea and I likely would have still continued as I did.
“Yeah? Oh. That sounds important. I’m sure that will go well…. Hey, wanna hear a funny story?”
I ended the pleasantries abruptly and began to share the reason for my call. I didn’t want to sound panicked – even though I was. So, I continued as though I had just seen the funniest thing.
“Well, Little Man and I were sitting on the floor and he was reaching for a toy and he was doing such a good job sitting up that I just had my hand behind him a little to give him extra balance and well, he leaned too far to the side and he tipped over and I couldn’t grab him fast enough and he bumped his head on a wooden toy and then he just sort of stared at me.”
Long Pause
I continued with a little more anxiety in my voice. “He didn’t cry and he’s not sleepy or lethargic and he didn’t throw up or anything, so I’m about 99.9% sure he doesn’t have a concussion, but… what do you think?”
My mom replied quickly. She knew what I had called to hear…
“I think he’s going to be just fine, Becky. I think you’re going to be okay too.”
This wasn’t the first phone call like this. It wouldn’t be the last either. Over the last 4 years I have made countless phone calls to my mom, the pediatrician (at 3 in the morning), and poison control (turns out that two large dabs of toothpaste are not cause for concern.)
Filled with anxiety and irrational perfectly normal mommy concerns, I have hung on the silence coming from the other end of the phone waiting desperately for someone to say….
“It’s going to be okay.”
Goodness. Those are powerful words.
But recently, I have come to realize that I don’t just crave those words as a momma. There are times when I am desperate to hear them as a wife, and a daughter, and a friend too. I need to be reminded of them constantly. A million ways I need to hear that it’s going to be okay… that I’m going to be okay…
So, honestly, I don’t know what brought you to this page today. I don’t know if you were referred here by a friend, or if you stumbled upon it through some link posted on your Facebook account. Perhaps you have been a reader for a while, or this is your first time here. But whatever brought you to my heart typed out in black letters across this safe small space, I just feel like I need to remind YOU…
It’s going to be okay, friend.
Maybe you are waiting for those two precious pink lines to show up or you just saw them for the first time today –
Or maybe you threw away another negative test this week or perhaps your hands shakily hold your first positive –
Maybe you just got engaged, or are only days away from a wedding –
Or maybe you don’t just wait eagerly for a wedding, but for a man who will give you a ring –
To the newlywed wondering what she just got herself into or the young bride still trying to figure it all out –
To the pregnant momma in the early days or the final days of pregnancy – even when uncertainty is overwhelming and fear seems loud –
To the momma at the kitchen sink rinsing out sippy cups or breaking a banana into the tiniest bites that can be pinched off that high chair –
And to the momma who cannot fit one more thing on her schedule and feels buried alive in the chaos of life –
To the wife who wonders how you and your husband got here and how you will ever find your way back –
And to the wife who finds herself alone – whether he left on purpose, or for business, or was taken from this life too soon –
To the woman who wonders what to do next, where to go next, and or has forgotten how to dream –
And to the woman who feels overlooked or unappreciated, unimportant or without value –
Listen to my heart, friend, “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
This one thing I know to be true… life has a way of moving forward. Clocks have a way of continuing to tick, and calendars have a way of continuing to flip. And while it feels as though we will be in this… this moment of uncertainty, or sadness, or anxiety, or pain, or desperation forever… Time has made us a promise.
Tomorrow is a new day. A new day full of hope and life and change.
Are you running low on hope today? Borrow mine.
I do not know where you are standing in this moment, but I do know that you’re not alone.
Listen carefully and let these words soak into your soul. It won’t always be this way. It won’t always be this hard, or this painful, or this overwhelming. It won’t always be this stressful, or this uncertain, or this difficult.
I’m honored to be the one to remind you today, “It’s going to be okay.”
Deep breath.
Now, let’s keep going.
I try and stay in touch with my readers on a personal level through social media. Share this post to pass it on, and then click here to find me on Facebook.
