Giving Up On Perfection

by Kathi Lipp, mom and stepmom of four

I may have to give up reading blogs.

Once again I've stumbled across a blog that my friend LOVES, and it's all about a perfect family who looks perfect, who are making their clean eating, sugar-free snacks (from scratch) as they do EVERY DAY, living on their pseudo-farm, where not only are they all hard workers, but their kids are all gifted. And there are plenty of Instagram photos to document all this perfect-ness.

It feels like a bunch of mini-Marthas trying to out-perfect each other, and I have to say it concerns me.

When all we are seeing is the perfect slice of a person's life, it can make us, the reader, a regular mom, feel like there is something wrong with us because WE aren't perfect. I live with daily evidence of my imperfection:

•    My kids talk back to me.

•    No one ever offers to do chores.

•    I’m happy if I get dinner on the table (even if part of it came from a box).

•    I may have (just possibly) watched a little too much TV last night.

•    My second child has exactly one page of her scrapbook filled in.

But here’s the thing: WE are not designed to be perfect.

Let me see your dirty laundry. 
Tell me about that cobbler that tasted like actual shoes. 
Tell me about the time you messed up as a mom. 
And let me know that you are being the best mom you can be, leaning on a community of moms and asking for help and grace from others and God.

God, help me to be the girl you created me to be – living loved. Help me to see others through your lens, not to compare myself to, but to learn to love.

From: mops.org