Perfection does not exist in the world of motherhood, or any world for that matter. Never has, never will. I'd like to think I'm a 50/50 mom. I get it right about half the time, and the other half I'm falling flat on my face. Take this morning for example.....
My 5 year old was up and ready before anyone else this morning. She was buzzing around the house with excitement for her, soon to be had fun, fieldtrip to the park with her classmates. She knew she needed to pack a lunch from home, and started in on that right away! She carefully placed broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and a carrot in her bag. She also packed an apple and water bottle. Good food choices make for a proud mommy. No sooner had she packed her lunch, I remembered that my 7 year old had not done her homework last night. We quickly scrambled to finish it before leaving, which in turn made us later than usual to leave the house. Ok, so we had +1 for the food choice and -1 for the forgotten homework. Now, I have 4 children in 3 different schools. The oldest walks, because the high school is just blocks away. I usually drop off the older two of the others first, because it's just easier. However, today I told my youngest we would drop her first because she was about to have a melt down, thinking we were so late that she would miss her feildtrip. On the way to drop everyone off I asked my 7 year old to pray for everyone's day. She gladly prayed for each of us, with sweet words to JESUS. As I rounded the corner to the drop off, I could see the car line up was crazy packed. Everyone must have been running late I guess. If you know anything about dropping off in car line ups, it's crazy. The kids have to practically barrel roll out of the vehicle while you drive by. If they don't accomplish a fast enough exit from the vehicle, you can see other under caffeinated moms giving you the stink eye for holding up the line. I always prep my kids as we pull up. "Are you ready? Book bag on? Love you! Have a great day!" Kaylee, my youngest, is the slowest of the bunch. She just can't be rushed. She was taking an extraordinarily long time to exit the van this morning and Sierra (my 7 year old) decided to speed things up. "Kaylee, go go go!!!" This caused Kaylee to be overwhelmed, so she jumped out of the van and starts screaming to us, and I mean yelling loud enough that I'm sure the entire line up heard her. "You just don't have to tell me what to do!!! You don't need to rush me!" Then she slammed the door, and I hid my head as I pulled away and drove past the other moms. +1 for the prayer, -1 for the bad attitudes.
Here's how to tally your score.
Mom: +2
Covered by God's infinite Grace: +2
Don't tally up your failures, because God doesn't! Everything is covered by His enduring love and mercy. So often we try to judge ourselves against our successes and failures. We try to be "good enough" to feel good about how we are living out our lives. Friends, JESUS died so that we wouldn't have to be judged, because He knew we would fall short. He already knows we are not capable of living the life we ought too, and guess what? He STILL chooses us, and actually says he's NOT ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11) No matter how bad and how often you fail, JESUS has covered ALL of it. Stop trying to be good enough to feel good enough. When you fail, and oh will it happen over and over again, just move into God's grace. Leave your shame and guilt at the cross and continue on my friend. Stop tallying your failures and let God cast them as far as the east is from the west. Remember, we cannot change anything! Nothing, by our own strength is sanctified. Let the one who gave you life, do the work in you, that you are not capable to produce.
Your efforts in trying to be Holy, are useless. You cannot obtain this, and God doesn't want you to dwell on trying to be more Holy. He wants you to passionately pursue HIM through reading His word and deepening your relationship with Him. When you put God as your number 1 priority, everything else falls into place. You begin to gain more patience, unconditional love, humility, and so much more. And just so you know, I'm preaching to myself here! Stop trying to be Holy and draw near to the only one who IS Holy. When we are around someone long enough, their actions start to rub off on us. Let JESUS be the one who rubs off on you and ME.
2Corinithians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
