A couple of days ago, a friend of mine captured a picture of me because I was in one of those ‘this is my life’ moments.
The past few weeks have been a season of humility for me as I’ve figured out once again that I don’t have it all together. Because, you know, I needed a reminder.
It’s funny, because life likes to trick me. I’ll have a day or two where I feel like I’m rocking it. It’s like I’ve finally accomplished the rhythm of this motherhood thing. That the cadence of the music and the movements of my feet are finally in sync and everything is happening as it should. Cleaning schedules are mastered, homemade meals are cooked, children are obedient and happy, and my husband and I are laughing and flirting in the kitchen like it’s a Nicholas Sparks movie.
And then… BAM. Life. In my instance, it was a brutal case of strep.
And now, I’m tripping over my feet and losing count of the music. I’ve broken one heel, the other is embedded in my dance partner’s foot. The back of my fancy dress is tucked into my pantyhose.
I know, I’m the only mom who has ever felt this way. Right?
Sometimes, this mom thing is just plain tough. When everything feels just not quite right, like an off-key piano. When the struggle to conquer Mt. Laundry is becoming more daunting by the minute and you can only remember what you had for dinner two nights ago because the dishes are still in the sink.
And in the effort to maintain the delicate rhythm that is needed to perfectly run a household, I find myself falling down on my face.
You know why? Because a household was never meant to be run perfectly.
Sometimes, I think we get in our own way when it comes to maintaining the life we’ve built for our families. We get so caught up in the chore charts and the schedules and the meal plans, but totally miss the beauty that comes with a messy, chaotic life.
A life where maybe you don’t know what’s for dinner before 5pm, but you and your kiddos had a dance party that lasted all afternoon. And they loved every minute of it.
A life where that Mt. Laundry is ever growing, but if your boys jump just right off the couch, they can land perfectly into it, and that brings them such delight.
A life where the messy, the clutter, and the not-so-perfect house help a not-so-perfect mommy point her kids to an oh-so-perfect God.
Give yourselves grace, mommas. Someday (or so they tell me) there won’t be so many dishes to wash, so much laundry to fold, and so many people to cook for. It will be easier to have your house look how you want, and you just might actually get to see it stay clean for twenty minutes.
But don’t get discouraged now as you try to master the dance that is motherhood. You were never meant to do it perfectly, and you were never meant to do it alone.
And be okay with falling down, because that’s a beautiful opportunity for someone to help you up.
