Mother's Day Reflections: Good Enough?
Yesterday was Mother's Day.
Mother's Day is supposed to be the day to celebrate Moms and the effort and sacrifice they make for their families. But why is it that the only one often not celebrating is mom? I can't imagine I am alone as I receive wonderful homemade cards from my children and eloquent words of praise from my husband and yet, internally...I battle.
I don't deserve the praise...
I am constantly falling short...
I want to be so much more....
The truth is I never measure up to my own expectations.
I have often read that "good enough" is "good enough." But for this type A mama, good enough is NOT good enough. I want to be great. I strive for supermama status. And I fall short. Every day. Every hour. And then I feel like a failure.
I often think I am failing my kids or my husband or God. But truly the only one who really thinks I am failing is me.
Oh sure, I make plenty of mistakes. Say the wrong thing, yell too much, don't take the opportunity to heap praise...sure I am guilty of all of those things. But I have realized I spend too much time defeated. Too much time focused on my weaknesses.
This week I was studying Hebrews 11-- the "Hall of Fame of Faith." The "Heroes of the Faith."
I had a sort of revelation as I was reading, and God thoroughly rocked my thoughts and expectations of myself. We all look up to the heroes of the faith, some of those listed include -- Noah, Abraham, Rahab, Samson, David. . . Noah-- the righteous naked drunk....Abraham who doubted and laughed at God-- the lying polygamist. Rahab the prostitute, Samson the fool in love, and David the adulteress murderer, yet still called a "man after God's own heart."
Talk about a ragtag group of heroes. Yet, God calls them such a "great cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews 12. `But see, that's just it. Hebrews 11 celebrates the faith of these men and woman and Hebrews 12:2 declares their faith (the very thing they are being celebrated for) to be the result of Jesus-- the "author and perfecter of our faith." We don't celebrate these righteous sinners for what they did or didn't do or who they were or weren't; we celebrate them for what Jesus did in them.
And oh how that thrills my soul. For you see my friend, I will never be a great enough to be a celebrated mom or a celebrated wife or a celebrated Christian...but I pray that others celebrate Christ's work within me-- that I may celebrate Christ's work within me. God celebrates the weak, and the wounded because through them he is exalted and does great things. Not because of us, but because of Him.
It's not about our successes.
Thank the Lord.
I have not succeeded in any area like I intended...He celebrates our pursuit of Him. The pressure of this Pinterest perfect world is great...but I am oh so glad that ultimately, our success is not based on if we are "good enough" . . . I can go ahead and admit defeat there...I'm not. However, may I always be found in pursuit of godliness instead of goodness. For there I find peace and joy...resting in His greatness instead of wallowing in my weakness.
Mother's Day is supposed to be the day to celebrate Moms and the effort and sacrifice they make for their families. But why is it that the only one often not celebrating is mom? I can't imagine I am alone as I receive wonderful homemade cards from my children and eloquent words of praise from my husband and yet, internally...I battle.
I don't deserve the praise...
I am constantly falling short...
I want to be so much more....
The truth is I never measure up to my own expectations.
I have often read that "good enough" is "good enough." But for this type A mama, good enough is NOT good enough. I want to be great. I strive for supermama status. And I fall short. Every day. Every hour. And then I feel like a failure.
I often think I am failing my kids or my husband or God. But truly the only one who really thinks I am failing is me.
Oh sure, I make plenty of mistakes. Say the wrong thing, yell too much, don't take the opportunity to heap praise...sure I am guilty of all of those things. But I have realized I spend too much time defeated. Too much time focused on my weaknesses.
This week I was studying Hebrews 11-- the "Hall of Fame of Faith." The "Heroes of the Faith."
I had a sort of revelation as I was reading, and God thoroughly rocked my thoughts and expectations of myself. We all look up to the heroes of the faith, some of those listed include -- Noah, Abraham, Rahab, Samson, David. . . Noah-- the righteous naked drunk....Abraham who doubted and laughed at God-- the lying polygamist. Rahab the prostitute, Samson the fool in love, and David the adulteress murderer, yet still called a "man after God's own heart."
Talk about a ragtag group of heroes. Yet, God calls them such a "great cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews 12. `But see, that's just it. Hebrews 11 celebrates the faith of these men and woman and Hebrews 12:2 declares their faith (the very thing they are being celebrated for) to be the result of Jesus-- the "author and perfecter of our faith." We don't celebrate these righteous sinners for what they did or didn't do or who they were or weren't; we celebrate them for what Jesus did in them.
And oh how that thrills my soul. For you see my friend, I will never be a great enough to be a celebrated mom or a celebrated wife or a celebrated Christian...but I pray that others celebrate Christ's work within me-- that I may celebrate Christ's work within me. God celebrates the weak, and the wounded because through them he is exalted and does great things. Not because of us, but because of Him.
It's not about our successes.
Thank the Lord.
I have not succeeded in any area like I intended...He celebrates our pursuit of Him. The pressure of this Pinterest perfect world is great...but I am oh so glad that ultimately, our success is not based on if we are "good enough" . . . I can go ahead and admit defeat there...I'm not. However, may I always be found in pursuit of godliness instead of goodness. For there I find peace and joy...resting in His greatness instead of wallowing in my weakness.
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