Friday, October 14, 2011

Perfection vs. Completetion....

"Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you 
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

This is in response to a dear friend who wrote a blog post today titled "I Get That A Lot..."  She's a young mom of three, works full time and tries to spend quality time with her husband and children. It's hard....been there, done that and washed all the t-shirts!

Her point was that many of her friends and acquaintances see her as Wonder Woman. But the reality is....we are not. Sometimes we put on the face so that others think we have it all together; when in fact we are barely hanging on.

I get it.

About 22 years ago when I was a young mom with two small children, I too worked full time. I left the house at 6am, dropped the kids with the sitter (my mom), spent an hour in traffic as I drove to work, worked eight full hours and then drove another hour to pick up the boys. By the time I arrived home again I had been gone twelve hours. Then was dinner, baths and playtime with the boys before bed and trying to spend time with the husband, too. Then there were church activities, friends, etc.

Life......

I had a friend who had two boys the same age as mine; she was a stay at home mom. Often she would say to me, "Lena, I don't know how you do it!" My reply to her was...."You do what you have to do". 

The laundry was not always done
The house was not always clean
The groceries were often bought late at night after the kids were in bed
Many times I felt insufficient.
And perfection? Please!! No chance!

None of us will ever be perfect, no matter how hard we try. There is a great deal of frustration to be found in perfectionism. But one thing I have found to be true.... we can be complete!

Deuteronomy 16:15b says, "For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete." As moms, working or not, we lead very busy lives. We have a great deal of responsibility that has been bestowed upon us, especially in the raising of our children. And yes, most of us have husbands to participate in that, but the nurturing usually falls on the mom. I remember after having my first child thinking, "What on earth do I do now?"  But I learned quickly that if I gave my day to Him, it went a whole lot better. And when I didn't complete all the tasks on my to-do list, I knew that tomorrow was a new day with new mercy from Him. 

That's not to say that there were no trials, failures, mistakes or days I wish I could do over again. But James tells us, "...the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so you may be mature and complete..." (James 1:3,4) 

And so, my sweet friend, I know you are a perseverer...you are a hard worker, a faithful wife, and a loving mom. You are not Wonder Woman....neither am I. But we are strong women of God who want the best for our families and ourselves. He will not leave you to run this race alone.....He will bring you to completion!

Love you!!!
'Lena


1 comment:

Jetta... said...

I love the way you write. It's like you are hugging me...