This post will be short and sweet and it’s dedicated to all my mom friends out there.
Today, like every other alternate Wednesday morning, I gathered with a group of moms to pray. Its a great time to share our life with each other not for the purpose of gripping or gossip but for the purpose of coming together and sharing our lives, then praying for each other.
There are some of us that come each time we meet, and sometimes there are new faces at the table. Regardless of who is sitting by me, openly sharing, I often hear the same messages (myself included). These messages echo the following sentiment:
I'm screwing my kids up
I'm not enough
I'm a bad mom or a bad wife
You get the picture. I don't think that thought life is only within the women I encounter. I think many moms (and people) out there live with a replay reel that is similar to the messages above. Truthly, those sentences JUST AREN'T TRUE.
Truth. Being a wife and mom is hard. Being in a close relationship with any other person is a challenge, especially under the same roof. We will mess up - A LOT! Its inevitable, but it doesn't mean we are screwing up our kids, and that what we offer isn't enough to make a dent for the good.
People will always have an opinion of how we do things, but opinions aren't facts and not everyone's opinion matters. We have to train ourselves to filter out the messages that don't come from valuable sources. The people that speak life into your life, those people may actually have something to say, but even with that, YOU get to be you. NO ONE ELSE ON EARTH can be you. So fill those shoes with pride.
Seriously, you are doing a great job. There may be areas where you can hon your skills and refine your motherhood, but go work at it knowing that all humans have work to do. Don't let those short comings define you - its only a piece of who you are and NO ONE is perfect - no matter what their Instagram might say.
Hug another mom. Pray for her. Listen to each other over coffee because we really just want to be heard and seen by someone else. Let's put down our judgemental armor and pick up each other's burdens. Give some grace to someone today because WE ALL NEED IT! I know I do. I know that boat I'm in is probably bigger than the Titanic. Let's not sink, okay? Let's help each other see those ice bergs and navigate around them. Let's share some mom love!!!
This is a later post, because well, life got a bit in the way, but Happy Wednesday, or whatever day you read this.
I'm not the biggest Halloween fan, in fact before having kids I pretty much boycotted the holiday. Its a combination of reasons, one of which includes I don't do scary. I can explain all that another time, because even though I'm not a Halloween fan, I am a fan of dressing up. I can remember having a dress up trunk when I was 7 years old.
I'm also competitive, so having a chance each year to dress up my stepdaughter, Katie, for her various contests, is fun. My kids pretty much want the "purchase and wear" costumes at this point and aren't yet ready for the "mom's getting creative" costume, so getting to do fun stuff with Katie is a hoot! I will definitely show some of my favorite costume creations below.
But all of it got me thinking, about why dressing up is so fun. There are a lot of different reasons, one of which includes being something other than ourselves. Yes, we are great but its not everyday you get to be a super hero or your favorite celebrity. So why not?
In real life sometimes we need to get dressed up mentally and be what we hope to be, not what we see ourselves as IRL. I'm not saying you shouldn't be yourself, but actually find the courage to be the real you.
I have had way too many conversations with people lately who are refusing to give it their best because all the see in the mirror is a loser. Its not that they don't want to give it their all, its just that they see their lack and can't imagine themselves any more than that. Its frustrating when I can see the possibilities and I am the only one in that boat. I know its not just an issue with a few select folks, all of us have areas where we lack foresight into the possibilities of who we were made to be. We get stuck and lost in a self-doubt funk and I say its time to get out!!!
So guess what? Its time to put on the best costume yet! Dress up like the person you can't imagine being and just pretend you are that person. Don't let your head game get in the way. Be that best version of you that looks like fiction and pretend you are dressing up in a costume. Take it out into the world and see what happens. You may find that the possibilities others see, the ones that seems fiction in your own mind, really is a reality!
Embrace the best version of you and do what it takes to be that person. Sure, it takes work, but so does some of those fabulous costumes out there. You get what you give.
I hope you found encouragement in this and in some of my other posts. This is really supposed to be a place where people can come and feed their souls. Sure I push us all to grow, but why not? I don't know who reads these things and I can't possibly personally know each and every person, but I can say I want the very best for you. Its true. As promised before you leave, here are some costumes I've made for my sweet Katie, that I will share with you. There is one or two in here of me as well.
