What Will They Say?

Chris's sweet Granny {who I willingly claim as my own!} sent me a card for Mother's Day and included this verse inside:

Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Proverbs 31:28-29

 I've heard these verses before, but something struck me deep in my soul when I read them yesterday.  Is there a better gift in all the world for a mother than for your children to stand and bless you?

I have not been able to get that thought out of my head since yesterday, a day dedicated to mothers.

Then, I read this post by Ann Voskamp, and I was certain that the Lord was behind this stirring in my soul.

In a world that is filled with snapshots that paint a beautiful picture of our lives and leave out the messy strokes, it is easy to fall victim to comparison.  To feel like you just aren't measuring up to all the other mothers around you.  To wish you made more time to do the fun things or had a house that was more "put together" or were able to manage your children's behavior more effectively.  The list goes on.  

I admit that I have allowed this comparison to creep into my heart and steal the joy and beauty I can find in my moments.  The real beauty is that my moments are exactly that--they are mine and unique to me and my family.  I do not have to be perfect according to the standards put on instagram, facebook, and the blogging world.  That is not my calling.  

My calling is to mother my children.

I want to live in a way that my children will stand one day and call me blessed.  

Not because I surpassed the ability of the other moms on the block.  Not because our house was the cleanest and most precisely styled.  Not because I didn't make mistakes or sometimes have a hard time managing them. 

No, it will only be because I ask the Lord to make me the best version of myself.  Because His love and power and work in me is enough.  Because I love my children deeply and care for them in my own way. Because I poured into them in ways that no one else could. Because when I made mistakes, I admitted them and asked for forgiveness. Because the Lord chose me to be their mother.

 

So, the question I have been asking myself is, "what will they say?"

It is rocking my world in the best possible way.