My LDS Preschool | It's Time to Start Giving Yourself Credit

If I asked, “What are the benefits of service?” I know you could each easily rattle off a list. Each of you could also share an example of a positive experience you had serving another person. As members of the church, I know you have felt the benefits of service AT LEAST once.

Did you know that it is actually a scientific fact that service makes you feel good?

Service triggers the reward centers in our brain. That good feeling service provides is called by some in the scientific community as the “helpers high.” Service creates social connectedness, boosts self-esteem, lifts our mood, and causes us to be more optimistic. Service also expands our sense of purpose and increases our gratitude.

Take a second and make a mental list of what you have done for your family today. It doesn’t matter if you are home full time or working outside of the home. That list is L-O-N-G.

Here is some of what my list would be:

Found the smell and disposed of it (why is it always me?)
Made meals for my family
Did grocery shopping
Went back to the store for that one thing my child didn’t tell me that she needs for school
Did some laundry
Cleaned up after dinner
Made myself available to counsel with my children, provide feedback, and give emotional support
Gave my advice and a listening ear to my husband for some things he has going on

…I don’t need to go on. You get the point. I know your list is chuck full too.

Simply put, moms provide a lot of service. Every. Single. Day!

Why is it then that self worth, anxiety, and depression seem to be so rampant among moms in and out of the church right now?

Why aren’t moms getting the “helper’s high” for all the acts of service they do daily?

I am not going to pretend I have the answer. Likely, it is a myriad of factors (not just one) that all seem to add up. Let’s take a look at just one of the many probable factors.

I believe we are not giving ourselves credit for what we do!

I think we don’t give ourselves credit for two main reasons.

We don’t think some of the things we do are important. In our minds, those “unimportant tasks” don’t count as valuable service and we don’t give ourselves credit. Much of what moms do are considered by most (including ourselves) to be “menial” tasks – jobs not requiring much skill and lacking prestige. Not much prestige is right!! Mom’s provide a lot of service inside and outside of their home every single day and there is very little prestige.
We don’t think some of the things we do are good enough, so we don’t give ourselves credit. In other words, we may not count efforts that are not A+ work. If I am not performing at a 100% every moment of every day, I often do not give myself credit for my less than A+ service.

Jody Moore, one of my favorite podcasters, teaches that all of our feelings come from our thoughts.

This means if we let ourselves think that the things we are doing are important, meaningful, and good enough, we feel good.

If we think the things we are doing are unimportant or that we are not doing them good enough, we do not feel good.

Could it be that we are feeding ourselves lies that the work of motherhood is not meaningful or important, or that we have too high of expectations on ourselves? Do we only think we should get credit for our service if our service is perfect?

Could that be why we don’t “feel” the benefits of our service as mothers like we should?

A couple weeks back in our weekly letter that we send out with helps, announcements, and sometimes freebies, I closed with this:

“Don’t forget motherhood is an amazing service. Give yourself credit for all the little things you are doing! Mosiah 2:17 applies to laundry, and dishes, and kids you stay up late with because of nightmares. It applies to ALL of it. “…when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Now go serve God by getting your family’s laundry done!”

(Not on our email list? Enroll here and get a free preschool lesson plan too.)

How would your life be different if you just gave yourself credit for all the service you did daily?

What if you gave yourself credit for service you did that you don’t think you did well?

Would you get more of the “helper’s high” of service? I think so!

There is one way to find out.

We are doing a 6 day challenge to give ourselves credit for the acts of service we are doing each day as mothers. Will you join us?

At the end of the day for 6 days, we are going to take a minute to think of all the ways we served Heavenly Father that day and give ourselves credit. It is a simple minute of reflection, but we think it will make a big difference in how we feel. We think it will make a difference for you too. at

Click here or the image below to download a worksheet where you can record your daily observations.

Did you spend the day picking up toys that were dumped out again and again. Write it down!

You served God by serving your child!

Did you vacuum?

You served God by serving your family.

Did you take time to exercise?

You served God by taking care of yourself.

Did you go to work? Go grocery shopping? Take time to listen to someone struggling?

Service.
Service.
Service.

We are doing great things mamas! It is time we give ourselves credit for it and allow ourselves to feel good about it even when that service is offered imperfectly. God uses imperfect people to provide imperfect service and He does it all perfectly. GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT!

Download the worksheet and try giving yourselves credit for 6 days. Let us know how it goes.

Edited to add: One of the Mom’s on our facebook or instagram wrote that she was going to print the scripture nice and big to help her remember that what she was doing was important. We thought that was a great idea, so we made one too. You can click and print this image if you want a copy!