Sunday, May 27, 2012

Perfection

Do you ever read about the woman in Proverbs 31 and just want to crawl into a dark closet and cry? I know I do. I mean, seriously, can you say "IMPOSSIBLE"? Honestly, take 3 minutes to go read that section in Proverbs 31 and then come back to me. Go on... I'll be right here.

......

Right? You add to this our obsession with Pinterest, the blogs of supermoms, and the facebook posts by those friends who are just too good to be true, and you end up feeling, well, not good enough. I don't clothe my family in silk, I don't buy only organic food, I don't think my kid could survive a day without watching an episode of Mickey Mouse, and heck, I don't even scrapbook. And on top of that, every now and then, I feed my kid McDonald's.

And while some of you are laughing, there are people who would seriously call me a bad mother for these "crimes". Some of them are my friends, your friends.

With all of these pressures from society, it's easy to read Proverbs 31 and feel defeated, intimidated, or even angry.

But God never called us to be the Pinterest mom. No where in scripture does God say we need to grow our own herb garden to be a Godly mother. What God does tell us to do is to follow him.

"Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no man may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45

"Let us fix our eyes in Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

Maybe if we stop looking to Pinterest and start looking to Christ, our lives will reflect the Proverbs 31 woman more closely. And maybe this is one of those things like when Jesus told us to "Be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) It seems impossible, but it isn't, with Christ.

The moment we loose focus, we begin to stray from the path of the Proverbs 31 woman. It's not easy. I pretty much suck at it, but I'm going to keep trying because, well, that's what God has called me to do. He didn't tell me to give up, or crawl into that corner and cry. He called me to take on the task full force with the confidence that He will be there to help me. Once again, He's called me to have faith in him rather than myself.

I've been following a study online about the Proverbs 31 woman that prompted me to blog about it. It's not long or in depth, but it gives me a good starting point and usually one simple thought that hadn't crossed my mind. You can follow it here if you're interested.

All that being said, I promise to blog about the kids next. We finally have our camera back from the repair shop so be prepared!

Thanks for visiting!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Too fast!

Yesterday I gave Reuben his first hair cut. And this morning my mom sent me a text to let me know my baby brother had finished his last final exam of high school. And all I could think was, it really does happen that fast.

I swear, it feels like yesterday that I was reading Bradley a bedtime story and tucking him in. One day I'm dressing him up as a ninja for the bazillionth time, the next he's graduating and going to college.

If I feel like this with Brad, then how am I going to feel when it's my own kids?  I already have a room filled with old baby items the kids have outgrown. A bouncy chair, a baby swing, a play may, an activity chair, and two small boxes of baby clothes I couldn't bear to part with.

Reuben get bored with toys if they don't have something that he can change (move a bead, open a door). Saoirse has pretty much stopped using crayons because she's in love with finger paint. I already get emotional about these things. I don't know how I'm ever going to prepare myself for high school graduation!

At least I have about 16 years to get there. 16 really fast years!



Until then, I'll snuggle with this bubba bear


 and I'll dance with my princess 


and I'll remind myself everyday how very blessed I am.


Thanks for visiting!