Just Be YOU

A new year of MOPS at Grace Evan is underway and it started with a bang! This year's theme, Be You Bravely, evokes so many different emotions in me. I'm very much looking forward to diving deeper into how I can bravely approach life and motherhood this year and grab ahold of who God designed me to be.

Our own Mentor Mom, Edie Fleming, presented a thought provoking message on Comparison-Free Mommying at last weeks meeting.

Here are some snippets:
Principle of the Day - Someone else's success is not my failure and someone else's failure is not my success.

Areas where moms tend to use comparison - Physical, Possessions, Productivity, & Performance.

Cures: Confidence, Commitment, & Contentment

I came across this article by a popular mommy blogger and it tied in so perfectly with this message. To read more by Susan Merrill, click here.

Once we start playing the comparison game, it’s hard to stop.

There’s my friend Marcie—the perfect mom with her counters always sparkling, her carpet clutter-free, and her kids smiling like little angels.

There’s my friend Laura—the peaceful mom with her endless patience and tenderness with her children.

Then there’s me—texting my kids to ask where they are, unsuccessfully attempting to cook a simple dinner, and hiding in the laundry room behind growing piles of dirty clothes.

Sometimes, we hear this little voice in the back of our minds telling us that our kids would be better off with another kind of mom—and we start to believe it.  We start doubting, and ask ourselves, “Why can’t I be more like Marcie or Laura??”

But the truth is that from the beginning of time, God has planned for you to be EXACTLY where you are.  God put your child in your care…and the mom you are is the mom God wanted your child to have.  We must come to understand that “I’m a mess.  But I’m a beautiful mess.  I’m His masterpiece, and that’s enough.”

-- Susan Merrill