No More Perfect Moms

This past weekend, some girlfriends and I attended the Hearts at Home conference in Normal, IL.  This was my 3rd time attending.  It is always a wonderful day of fellowship, sharing and rejuvenating.  The speakers this year were wonderful.  I attended 4 sessions:  Raising Boys Ages 2-22, Are You Spiritually Fit?, The Magic of Parenting Preschoolers & When You Want to Scream.  All were wonderful - oh, and did I mention - we got to see Candace Cameron Bure?!  Yup, DJ from Full House!  And boy, does she have an amazing testimony!

The focus of the conference this year was No More Perfect Moms.  We all, whether consciously or not, strive for perfection.  We want our house to look perfect.  Our kids to look (and act) perfect.  We expect ourselves to look and dress like So-and-So from That TV Show or That Magazine.  We expect our husbands to be like Ward Cleaver.  We want what the neighbors have.  We want our kids to have what the neighbors' kids have.  And so on and so forth.  You get the picture.

Why do we place so many unrealistic expectations on ourselves?  Have you ever sat back and thought, "If I could just LET GO of some of these things, I would enjoy my life, my husband, my children, so much more!" 

Jill Savage, the founder of Hearts at Home (and one of the most REAL women I have ever met!), said something that really stuck with me.  She said, "Don't compare your insides to someone else's outsides."  I am so very guilty of this!  It's easy for me to look at another woman and think, "Wow.  She has it all together.  If only I could be so thin, so pretty, dress so nicely.  If only my kids were always clean like hers, always well-behaved.  If only my house was as clean as hers always looks in the pictures she posts on Facebook and her blog!  If only I were as creative and crafty as she is!" etc.  But, you know what?  I have no clue what that mom has going on on the inside.  Maybe a family member is battling a serious illness.  Maybe her family is having financial troubles.  Maybe she and her husband are struggling in their marriage.  Maybe her "well-behaved" child just threw a huge tantrum before they left the house.  Maybe her teenager just got suspended from school.  I am also guilty of judging that mom at WalMart who is in her PJ's, hair in a messy bun, kids running wild in the aisles.  "Couldn't she TRY to control her children?  Or at least put on a pair of jeans before leaving the house?"  But, again, I do not know her situation!  Maybe she is sick and there were literally no more groceries in her refrigerator.  Maybe she was up all night with a screaming baby.  What if we all gave ourselves, our husbands, children and other moms, a little grace?  Permission to be our perfectly imperfect selves!  

So, I am making a promise to you, myself, my husband and children: I promise to let us all be imperfect!  And to try to extend grace in situations when the Perfection Infection rears its ugly head. 

The keynote speakers at Hearts at Home each shared their "perfect" family photos and their imperfect, real ones.

This is one of my favorite photos of me and the boys:

 

Pretty close to perfect, right?  ;-)

 But did you know that most of the time, in order to get a photo like that, it takes maybe 10, 20, 30 shots like THIS?  Haha.

I am not normally long-winded, so I apologize for the wordy post.  But this is something that has really been on my heart, and I just had to share.  Let's all embrace our imperfections and ask God to help us extend grace and love in every situation!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!  Mike and I are headed to Chicago overnight tomorrow with some friends...so excited!  :-)

Love and blessings,

Krys