How to Fix Mom Burnout
Oct 31, 2026Summary
Have you ever found yourself desperately searching for how to fix Mom Burnout? When we hit the wall of exhaustion, highly capable Christian women often treat themselves like broken appliances. We think if we just tweak our schedules, wake up an hour earlier, or find the perfect organizational formula, we can fix the problem and stop inconveniencing everyone around us. But my sister, you are not a machine to be fixed; you are a vessel to be surrendered to Jesus Christ!
In this deeply encouraging episode of the Arise Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson and licensed clinical social worker Wendi Christensen tackle the frustration of trying to "fix" our maternal depletion. Tamara shares a hilarious and vulnerable story about her early days as a perfectionist and control freak, while Wendi opens up about the deep childhood triggers behind her own "rage monster." We also dive into the Old Testament story of Naaman (2 Kings 5) to learn why God often bypasses our pride and offers simple, humbling solutions rather than grand, complicated miracles. Tune in to learn how to let go of the illusion of control, seek wise counsel without shame, and take the small baby steps required to find lasting peace.
Episode Takeaways
- You Are Not a Broken Machine: Stop treating yourself like an appliance that needs a 10-step organizational masterclass to repair. You are a vessel to be surrendered to God.
- Surrender the Illusion of Control: Burnout often manifests as intense anger when our illusion of control is pushed to the limit. Letting go of perfectionism—like choosing to ignore a crumpled paper on the floor—is a necessary step toward healing.
- The Humbling Fix (2 Kings 5): Just like Naaman wanted a grand miracle for his leprosy but was told to simply wash in a muddy river, God's answer to your burnout might be simple and deeply humbling. It might look like taking a nap, leaving laundry in the basket, or finally going to therapy.
- Asking for Help is Not a Failure: Getting outside help—whether that means seeing a doctor to test for postpartum depression or simply asking a friend to sit on your couch for 30 minutes so you can go buy a soda—is an act of holy stewardship.
Reflection Questions
- Are you currently treating yourself like a "broken machine" that just needs a better schedule, or a vessel that needs to be surrendered to God?
- Think about Naaman in 2 Kings 5. What is a "simple, humbling fix" (like taking a nap or letting the laundry sit) that God might be asking you to do today instead of a grand life overhaul?
- When you feel out of control, do you turn that frustration inward as guilt and shame, or do you reach out for professional and spiritual help?
Resources Mentioned
Free Resource: The Mom's Burnout Reset Guide: Trading Survival Mode for Christ-Centered Peace downloadable pdf here: (https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/the-moms-burnout-reset-guide
Host & Guest
Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson
Wendi Christensen @wendichristensencounseling
Transcript
Tamara K Anderson
00:00:00.240 - 00:03:20.350
Hey, friend, are you desperately searching for a way to fix your mom burnout?
Often our perfectionism is telling us that we're failing.
You are in the right place.
And by the end of today's episode, you will learn what fixing or changing really looks like, how to let go of control, and how our Savior Jesus Christ uses simple, humbling steps to heal our exhausted hearts.
Let's dive in.
Ordinary women extraordinary faith Walking with Christ we arise God strong.
Hello, and welcome back to the Arise Women of God podcast.
I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson, and joining me today is the wonderful Wendy Christensen, who is not only a wife and a mom, but a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience.
And I'm thrilled to have her with me today as we are continuing our deep dive into mom burnout and tackling the frustration of trying to fix it.
And as we begin, I invite you to listen with your heart and see if you can feel one small tweak God is nudging you to take today.
Let's start by looking at where this desperate need to fix things comes from.
When we hit burnout, especially as highly capable Christian women, we treat ourselves like a broken appliance.
We think, if I just tweak my schedule, wake up an hour earlier, find the right formula, I can fix this and stop inconveniencing everybody else.
We kind of think of ourselves as machines that need repair.
But, my sister, you aren't a machine to be fixed.
You are a vessel to be surrendered.
And God knows exactly how to help you.
I know this because I used to be a bit of a control freak.
Just ask my husband.
When we were first married, he would tease me.
He would take a piece of crumpled paper, wad it up, and throw it in the middle of our clean, tidy living room floor.
Then he would just sit back and watch me to see exactly how long it would take until I absolutely had to grab it and throw it away.
And no, he wasn't being mean.
He was just teasing me because he knew I couldn't handle things being out of order.
But having kids, honestly, ladies, wore down my perfectionism.
I quickly learned I could not control everything.
And when I kept trying to, I burned out.
Not just once, but several times.
I was so, so tired.
And I knew I needed to change.
I had to learn to take the stuff I couldn't control and give it to God and trust that he truly had that.
But that was hard when my kids had autism.
And I didn't want to give it to God.
I wanted to fix it Surrendering control when you are exhausted and emotionally worn out is so much harder to do than it is to talk about.
When we cling to that control, our burnout often manifests as intense anger.
Let's listen to Wendy Christensen share this vulnerable story about what happens when.
When a mother's illusion of control is pushed to the limit as she was dealing with one of her sons.
Wendi Christensen
00:03:20.670 - 00:04:42.170
I know for me as a mom, I had rage that I didn't know where it came from.
I had a son that loved pushing buttons, and he pushed my buttons really well.
And I remember when he was 3, I yelled at him and I was so angry at him, and I just felt this rage monster come out in me and so frustrated and thankfully I didn't do.
I didn't do anything but yell.
But.
But that was enough to really make me angry at myself.
And then I turned all that anger towards myself.
I hated myself.
I hated everything about that anger.
And I had to take some deep breaths and realize that my brain was going into its fight, fight or freeze mechanism when he was pushing my button and it was triggering me.
And I had to do a deep dive to realize it triggered something from my childhood.
And so I had to go do my own personal work, my own therapy to.
To figure out what was being triggered.
It was this lack of control that I experienced growing up that it triggered.
And once I started understanding that and then praying for God to help me, he began helping me to work through that and process through that so that I would recognize that when things felt out of control was when that rage monster would, like, go off.
And so I learned to do some deep breathing and I learned to step away.
I learned forgiveness steps and learning to let things go.
As I took care of myself, I was able to step into a better space with him.
And.
And then I wasn't wracked with this tormenting guilt from being angry and frustrated with him.
Tamara K Anderson
00:04:42.170 - 00:05:37.800
As Wendy mentioned, she had to do her own therapy to figure that out.
The fixing and the softening of my own heart also happened little by little.
Or as the scriptures say, line upon line, precept upon precept.
And just as I figured out one season of life, guess what, ladies?
It would change.
But the good news is, God has a solution in every season.
Often I found that what I thought were God's expectations for me were really just my own perfectionism issues.
He wasn't demanding a spotless house and a perfect schedule, and he slowly helped me to see that and that my worth didn't hinge on that Being perfect.
Sometimes God uses a good counselor to help us see that truth.
But our perfectionism tells us that asking for help means we are broken.
Listen to what Wendy has to say about getting outside help to feel fix mom burnout.
Wendi Christensen
00:05:37.800 - 00:06:50.560
If you're feeling, I'm struggling, I'm having a hard time.
You can always reach out and there will always be people that you can talk to.
But I think it's really important to seek professional help when you need it.
And also set boundaries.
Set boundaries for yourself to redistribute some of that mental load that you're experiencing, that overwhelm.
And if you're starting to recognize, hey, I may be feeling burnout, I'm having a hard time concentrating, focusing, getting up, doing normal tasks, something's going on.
Maybe it's a doctor that you talk to and let them know they could test you for depression.
They can test you for anxiety or test you for postpartum depression.
A lot of moms deal with postpartum depression, and that's nothing to take lightly.
That's the most important thing is that there's help for burnout.
So don't stay in isolation and stay in that space of thinking you could always do it by yourself and that you're a failure if you can't.
Please don't think that you're a failure or that you are a problem.
If you have to reach out when you're feeling burned out, there's help out there and allow people to come in and step in and help you.
And those moms that get help from burnout, they actually go on to do really well and continue doing great things.
And sometimes those amazing things is taking care of yourself and making sure that you're getting the sleep and the rest.
Because as you take care of yourself, then you do show up as a better mom.
Tamara K Anderson
00:06:50.720 - 00:09:14.380
Well, my friend, please don't think you are a failure.
We all want a grand impressive fix for burnout.
We want a 10 step organizational masterclass that proves we have it all together.
But God usually bypasses our pride and gives us a simple, humbling fix.
Look at the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5.
Naaman was the powerful commander of the Syrian army, but he had leprosy and he traveled to the prophet Elisha fully expecting Elisha to come out, call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over the spot, and perform maybe some grand complicated miracle.
Instead, Elisha didn't even come to the door.
He sent a messenger out who told Naaman, go and wash in the Jordan seven times thy Flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
Oh, my sister's.
Naaman was furious.
He was offended.
He wanted a grand fix, and instead, God asked him to do something incredibly simple and deeply humbling.
Go wash in this muddy river.
But when Naaman finally let go of his pride and submitted to the simple process, he was completely healed.
Oh, my dear friend, when you pray to fix your burnout, God might not give you a grand burst of supernatural energy to clean your entire house.
Instead, he might tell you to go do something simple and humbling.
Take a nap.
Go to therapy.
Let the laundry sit in the laundry basket.
Let go of the control, listen for God's line upon line, whispers and simple ideas and act on them.
Take the next baby step when the idea comes.
If I'm feeling burnt out, it often manifests by me feeling like I can't even do or think about a simple task.
When I feel so overwhelmed, I often fall into avoidance and want to read a book or relax.
But maybe that is my body just waving a red flag and saying, tamara, I need a break.
Because often after I take that break, I feel rejuvenated enough to do it.
So be patient with yourself and give yourself grace.
Sometimes the most humbling fix of all is admitting we can't do it alone and that it's okay to ask for a break.
Let's listen to Wende's practical advice on taking a baby step out of the burnout.
Wendi Christensen
00:09:14.460 - 00:09:49.300
Like, look at and ask yourself, what can I do?
Take some deep breaths.
Take some mindfulness.
What do I need to do for me so that I can step out of the burnout?
Make one step into feeling better and feeling more normal.
And maybe that's even asking your partner or a friend, hey, can you just come sit at the house, watch my kids, spend a half hour or an hour while you run to the store and get a drink?
That's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that because you're taking care of you and you're taking care of your burnout.
And by doing that, you're going to show up so much better for yourself and for your family.
Tamara K Anderson
00:09:49.690 - 00:11:53.580
Did you catch that?
The fix might just be asking a neighbor to come and sit on the couch for half an hour so you can drive to the store and buy a soda.
It's simple, it's humbling, and it requires us to drop that illusion of the perfect martyr mom who never needs a break.
Oh, my friend, you are not broken beyond repair.
You're simply weary.
And I invite you to surrender that heavy weight of perfectionism to Jesus.
He is the Master healer and he can help you with your unique challenges to baby step your way forward.
If you're ready to let go of things you cannot control and start identifying the simple, humbling steps that will heal your burnout, Wendy and I have created a tool just for you down in the show Notes below, I invite you to download your free copy of the Mom's Burnout Reset Guide.
Inside, we walk you through how to untangle your expectation from God's true expectations, how to build a not to do list, and how to surrender the heavy load of control so you can finally find rest.
Download your free copy today by clicking that link below and start taking those baby steps forward toward peace.
My dear sister, God has a solution for any every single season you are in and our Lord Jesus Christ does not demand perfection.
He simply asks for your willing, surrendered heart.
Trust his timing, let go of the piece of paper on the floor, take a deep breath and let him heal you line by line.
As we close, I invite you to act on one thing God has whispered on your heart that you can do differently today.
So take one tiny step forward each day with God.
Thanks for joining us and may you be blessed to arise as a woman of God.
If today's episode helped you feel a little closer to God, please like and subscribe.
