God's Word-filled Wednesday: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

So I am nearly finished reading The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly.  I read most of it back in college, but it is full of stuff that we need to remind ourselves of daily, so when I finish, I may as well start over again.  haha, but seriously, there is a lot of great stuff in here.  Totally recommend any of his books.

The chapter I read a couple days ago really hit me.  It was a chapter on self-knowledge and quoted Socrates:

In the chapter, as Matthew Kelly discusses the idea and importance of knowing yourself , he says,

"Fear holds us back.  We refuse to look in the mirror, not always physically, but emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually...We are scared of what we will find.  So we think and talk only of our good qualities and achievements, but in doing so, we shun some of life's most rewarding and fulfilling lessons." 

All this made me think of one of my favorite Bible verses of all time, which is my verse for this Wednesday.

I like this verse because it reminds me to stop being such a perfectionist.  It is true that in Matthew 5:48, Jesus calls us to "be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect.", but that perfection comes from relying on God's grace, not on our own power to do right. 

So in the spirit of "boasting in my weaknesses" (which I don't think is easy for any of us), I thought I would share about one of my greatest weaknesses.  I was going to write about it myself, but then this morning I came across this blog post for the overwhelmed mama randomly on Pinterest that pretty says exactly what I would have wanted to say. 

Did you go and read the link?  

You should have.  It's really a great read.  

Did you notice how none of the solutions to help you stop yelling/lecturing are things that would make one appear to be a super mom?  They are just simple, little, totally-manageable things that we can do on a daily basis to keep ourselves more calm and more than that to show our kids responsibility, love, charity, and being still.   

Most moms I know are major multi-taskers (you have to be), but sometimes you have to be willing to slow down and teach, not by lecturing, not by telling, and not by yelling, but by doing tasks and activities with them, by living and loving the lessons you hope to teach, by being the example you want them to be. 

And just in case, you were wondering if my weakness means that I don't love being a mom...You could not be further from the truth.  I love my vocation as a mom and could write forever (check out other blog posts) about the many fun activities and experiences I am blessed to enjoy with my kids nearly every day.  But we have to be truthful.  Every aspect of motherhood is NOT fun and games.  A lot of it is really hard, really tiring, and really frustrating no matter how much you love your kids.

But I truly believe that by understanding and knowing that I have many short-comings as a mom, and by seeking God's grace and acting in the way HE shows me, not the way I might naturally react oftentimes, I can become a truly loving and selfless mother to my kids.

"for when I am weak, then I am strong."