Hearts at Home: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Moms

My last session at Hearts at Home was called 7 Habits of Highly Effective Moms by Sherry Surratt. Sherry is the CEO of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), mother of two and grandmother to one. 

This session was slightly different because most of the session was conveying a study done to discover the habits of highly effective moms. It was very interesting to me as someone so enjoys numbers, data, and statistics. Here is what the study came up with: 

First they came up with the Better Mom Better World Metric to in a sense create the image of the perfect mom. This was used to study moms that had these qualities and from their study their habits.  An effective mom would have:

• A strong core resilience
• Healthy network of friends
• Supportive partner
• Developed Mom Finesse
• Spiritual Development

Now that we know what the characteristics of an effective mom are, the habits were easy to find. If you've ever heard of the 7 habits of highly effective leaders, you might be surprised to see some similarities in habits. In the end there were 7 very distinctive habits. 

1. They put themselves first in spiritual development. Their day is fit around God instead of trying to fit God into their day.
2. Engage in spiritual walk that has nothing to do with being a wife or a mom. You need an identity in Christ separate from everyone else. 
3. They form a S.W.A.T team of support. Husbands and mommy friends are the most common team members and are always trusted confidants. 
4. They continue to invest in who they were before they became a mom.
5. They balance being a mom and a woman. 
6. They keep their sense of humor. 
7. They parent with the end in mind.

Well if that list doesn't just make you want to crawl into bed and hide, you may be more effective than me. I can say I usually keep my sense of humor and I believe I parent with the end in mind although I know there is always room to grow. 

When I look at the habits I can tell that my hardest has to be number 4. I can hardly remember what it was like before kids. My whole identity is mom and wife and there are so many times where I can't remember who I was before that. There will come a day where I won't be mommy anymore and that scares me. Who will I be then? The good news is, the session ended on a really good note. 

3 Splendid and Beautiful Truths: 

1. There is NO perfect to achieve
2. Great moms don't happen on accident, but on purpose
3. God's got your back

I may not be able to achieve perfect but looking at the habits, I know which one I need to work on the most. In 2014 I can work to find who I am again and work towards being that person again. 

To end I will let you ponder the verses shared as the session closed out. It may seem a little odd at first but think about what it takes to be a mom. You need a plan and you need your weapons. What are those for you?

Ephesians 6: 13-18 "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes form the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."