Introverted Motherhood

Motherhood is hard.  Maybe thats why lots of mothers pay other people to do the grunt work.

And I have heard it said that for introverts, all the difficulties of motherhood are compounded, making it much harder for the introverted mother than the extroverted mother.  The first time I heard this, I knew that it was true, but it also slightly depressed me.  It was discouraging to hear that my main calling for the majority of my life is going to be much harder for me than for the average mother (it is estimated that 60-75% of people in the US are extroverted).

But it was refreshing for me to look at this "problem" from a Biblical perspective with a gospel focus.  Jesus himself said "My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).  That means that I have a greater opportunity to experience Christ's grace and power exactly because of this weakness in my life.

This is a painful but glorious realization.  It is hard to come to terms with the idea that a weakness is good.  We want to feel strong, we want to feel like we can handle life on our own.  We want to think that we are equipped with all the skills needed to be a good mother.

But deep down we know that we aren't strong and that we can't do it on our own.  And thats why it is glorious to know that Jesus' power is made perfect in our weakness, that God not only works despite our weakness, but that he works better because of our weakness.  And that is the introvert's strength in motherhood.