This weekend my family and I attended a funeral for the former youth pastor of our church. I am so glad we attempted it, even though I ended up standing in the lobby for most of it. It may have been the most life-changing service I have ever attended. I left feeling refreshed, as if another layer had been peeled back, drawing me deeper into the understanding of this incredible and mysterious faith I hold.
The thing about our youth pastor was he was just a normal guy. At the funeral, the pastor said "He knew he wasn't perfect, but he was forgiven." As I stood in the back with a toddler tangling around my ankles and a baby sleeping in the sling, those words caught and then freed me. I'm just a normal person, too. As we slip closer to the season of Advent, I'm reminded of the normal, imperfect people God has always used to impact the world - and that He can do the same with me.
A friend approached me after the service and we were talking about her daughter, a young girl thrust unexpectedly into married life and family before perhaps she would have chosen to. I've been there. That's my story, too. Yet my friend reached out to hug me and said "She sees how you live your life...and she's going to do it too." And I had no words. She walked away and something changed inside me.
Usually my knee-jerk reaction to a comment like that is to assure everyone around me that I'm a messy, imperfect, broken person - not a role model by any means. That if someone follows me closely enough, they'll see my flaws. I am guaranteed to let them down and that terrifies me. The thing is, no one said I was perfect. No one is perfect. Yet God can use any one of us to touch the lives of another despite our imperfections. We just need to stop making excuses and let Him work. Something I've "known" my entire life, but until I stood in the funeral of a normal, every-day guy and saw the thousand plus people stand when they asked whose life was personally impacted by him - I didn't fully understand. It reminded me that God uses the humble, the unremarkable, the every day - to change the world.
I am just a normal Mom. My kids aren't sitting in perfectly disciplined obedience in the church pew, with not a hair out of place. I'm frustrated on Monday morning because everyone seems to be crying and arguing at once and it's just too.early. My son has a project due tomorrow and we've barely done a thing about it. Sometimes I just want to not deal with the laundry and the noise and the mess and the meal plans and the stress. I can use it all as an excuse and stay up nights wracked with guilt that another day passed and I screwed up. Again.. Or I can shed that guilt and sleep soundly, knowing that I'm not perfect, but I'm forgiven. Just setting one foot in front of the next, living the life He has called me to - that's my job.
God can use me. Not eventually, not when I finally live one day without doing something I regret - but every day. I'm just a normal Mom. And I'm getting out of the way and letting Him work. You too?
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
James 4:6
{Begging your prayers today for a friend of mine, another "normal mom" of 9 who needs our prayers. Thank you so much!}
{It's Mindful Mothering Mondays, a day to take a deep breath and write out your mothering journey, whatever form it takes. A day to link up for encouragement from others who are in this same phase of life. A day of writing out the trials and triumphs and what you're learning right where you are, right now.
You might post recent struggles or thoughts. Maybe just a picture or a quote. Or maybe you'll just come here and read the links that others post. Whatever form your participation takes, this is a day for you.
We are all in this, together. Together, we can encourage and build one another up, be honest with our shortcomings and strengthened by community to keep fighting the good fight.
I chose Mondays because what Mama doesn't need a little encouragement on a Monday? As such, I'll have the link up ready to go on Sunday night for you to begin submitting your links.
I hope you'll meet with me each Monday! Here's what to do ~
Link up your post below. Remember to put the link to the exact post you want to link, and not just your blog url. Include in your post a link back here so others who want to join in can find us! And visit some other Mamas who have linked up.
Post the community graphic within your post, so people who are reading your Mindful Mothering post can come back here and find the rest of us!
Invite the writers of your favorite blogs to join in!
Share this meme with others on facebook and twitter. This community is for all moms, and the more that participate, the more we will be able to enjoy!!}
Grab the graphic here:
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I have been following you on your blog for a long time and never commented before but have always been so encouraged by you. This one brought me to tears because it is true yet so easy for me to forget. Thank you!
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