If you have read my blog for any length of time then you may have seen things change. When I started this blog in 2008 I had 2 kids and I also started making lots of things from scratch, gardening, freezer cooking and canning.
Now I don't do much of that. I do some of that but not much. You've seen chore charts and sewing projects - I don't do that or much of that any more.
We have changed our eating habits about - oh - 50 times in the last few years.
I have stopped doing so much outside activity because I just cannot do it. I homeschool only one child but he is dyslexic so he needs more one on one time. I half homeschool two other children. Homeschooling is straight up exhausting and I did not know that.
I kept thinking I was doing something wrong because I could not homeschool and make everything from scratch and keep a clean house and spend quality time with my kids and husband and serve in the church.
I was failing. Thank goodness! No one can keep up that pace. For you, your list might look different. You might be a mom, working full time with a husband, a home and some kids to care for and you look around and think - you are failing. You cannot do it all.
Yep. You can't.
And if you ever see a picture or a post or speak with someone in person (who does that anymore) and you think for ONE SECOND that they are doing it all. You are wrong.
They are not.
But you've seen their house and you have had dinner there and you know she blogs and leads a Bible study and goes on a date with her husband once a week. So.
She's not doing something. Trust me. She is totally missing out on doing something. And you know what - good for her!
We can do one of two things - we can do it all (but we really can't) or we can do a few things well. We cannot do it all well.
Do not let anyone else steal your joy. Don't look at someone else and think for one second she has it all together. I'm telling you no one does.
Your priorities are not her priorities. Speak truth into your life. Surround yourself with someone who will speak that truth to you. When doubt creeps in - combat it.
When you think you should be doing this and you should be doing that remember this verse:
"And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
That is it.
And focus on the jobs that only you can do. (Click that link - read that post)
This sounds simplistic. It is. It should be. You should stop being so hard on yourself. You should stop focusing on everything you haven't done and what your weaknesses are. You should surround yourself with people that are strong where you are weak. You should love your neighbor. You should love God. You should stop thinking you can do it all.
I will try to do that too.
This is great! I don't know if it's that I'm getting older and with age comes a little more wisdom...or maybe a little less caring what everyone else thinks, but the pressure to be, do and say everything perfectly has completely left me. I do what I can and I let the rest go. My family is fed and loved. The bills are paid. The house is relatively clean and the laundry is an ongoing battle. That's good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Klutzymama
DeleteThis is right on! Keep up the great job you are doing with your life & family! We women need to stop comparing & critiquing each other and start embracing our own lives & encouraging each other!
ReplyDeleteExactly Lea! Thank you.
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