When my boys were younger, I took them to swimming lessons. One day I talked about my church to another mom. She responded, “I could tell you’re a Christian by the way you talk to your kids.”

Now this statement didn’t have the effect on me you might expect. I went home and cried tears of conviction and shame. What about the harsh way I spoke to my kids in the privacy of my home? Despite my patient and loving words in public, I was also that mom behind closed doors.

That mom could yell in anger. That mom sometimes showed favoritism and held grudges. That mom was me.

I was like the Pharisees who earned Jesus’ harshest rebukes: “On the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:28).

Have you ever been that mom? There are days when the magnitude and exhaustion of caring for young lives presses down on us and we snap.

But I bet you’ve also been the mom who whispers, “I love you” and shares stories of Jesus and prays fiercely over a sleeping teen. This mom was also me, and I know you are this mom too.

Show yourself some grace, for that’s what Jesus died to give you. On the tough days, remember this: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Happy Mother’s Day, dear momma. You’re right where Jesus wants you to be, doing what he designed you to do.