'I remember the exhaustion that seeps all the way into your bones' - Jen's thoughts on waiting the other side
Motherhood is a never ending journey, it brings joy, tears, smiles, heartbreak and an abundance of love.
It comes with an array of emotions and feelings, but sometimes not always the wonderful sense of achievement.
Often, mums tend to be hard on themselves, not believing they're good enough at being a parent, or have encompassed that feeling of failure.
However, we know that this feeling is associated with worry, the worry that your children are going to OK, but Jen Hatmaker has reassured us that all will be just fine.
Coming across a single photograph brought a world of thought back to the mum, who teared up for the mother and her babies who were placed before her.
"This is me in a hospital bed in 2002 having delivered my third baby, Caleb, five hours earlier. The 'big kids' came to meet him and crawled in bed with me. I found this pic yesterday and shed tears upon tears for every baby in this picture."
"The tears for my babies come quick. I can literally feel the phantom weight of them leaning against me with their snow white hair and baby skin. I remember exactly how they felt in my arms. Exactly. My life's joy. I can hardly look at their little faces."
"But most of my tears are for that young mama."
Looking back, the mum-of-three is reminded of her children's qualities, the things that made her glow each time she caught a glimpse of their faces, but she is also reminded of the person she once was.
"She was 27-years-old and five hours removed from delivering her third baby in four years. She was sore and tired and stitched, but she pulled those big babies into her bed to snuggle and read to them so they knew they were still her moon and stars."
"She would go home the next day with three babies and work from sunup to sundown and also in the middle of the night taking care of these treasures and sometimes crying in the bathroom. There was never, ever enough of her to go around, but God have mercy did she try."
Jen wants every mother to know that she is there, she can see what you're going through as she once went through the same; diapers, nursing, exhaustion, bleeding fingers, and worry.
"I remember the exhaustion that seeps all the way into your bones until you fall asleep with your clothes on and your contacts still in."
"I remember the worry. The world feels like a terrifying monster out to harm and steal and injure your babies. You are their guardian and protector and God help anyone who comes between a young mama and her little charges."
Jen's message is sincere, she wants to tell you something she should have told herself at 27: "You are doing a breathtaking, beautiful job. Your children are so loved and they know it."
"You are giving them something priceless that they won't even know how to identify later but it will settle down deep in their bones: security. They are safe with you, absolutely cherished."
"This isn't from one big thing you do; it comes from the million minutes you love them well. That's it. All your mistakes and meltdowns won't change it. It lasts. It sticks. It is the air they breathe from that first day in the hospital, and you can't undo it."
The mum-of-three asks that every mum will keep on doing what they already are; because she knows you're doing the best that you can.
"There isn't much down time. But all of this matters and you matter and this work is so important. I am cheering you on from the other side. I'll hold your seat over here. You're going to make it."
We're all going to make it, and we're going to take a moment each day to remember we ARE doing a good job.