I’m honored to share with you a few of the words I wrote that my friend Lisa-Jo Baker published on her site yesterday. Here’s a peek:
Sharing my Real Mom Confessions is a joy. Together we’ve shared hundreds of real moments from mothering. Every Wednesday, I laugh and cry while reading what everyone brings to the table. Moms have shared the number of days there’ve been between baths for their kids. They’ve shared how many meals from the drive-thru were eaten that week in the van. They’ve shared how frustrated and exhausted they were. They’ve shared their laundry mountains. They’ve asked for prayer as they announced a separation from their husband, returned to work from maternity leave, and made terrifying & difficult decisions for their children. They’ve shared their loneliness for friendship. They’ve shared their victorious and cheerful and funny stories.
They’ve shared their real confessions of mothering, and they’ve changed me.
Because of this little weekly series on my Facebook and Instagram pages, I am a less judge-y woman. My first reactions have changed – they’re more full of grace and love than I ever could’ve mustered on my own. God has used these confessions to keep me humble (because y’all. I found out that I am in the showering frequency minority. Related: all of you who shower more than twice a week? I bow down in awe.) and to keep me plugged in to the needs of those around me.
Real moms are the best kind. The kind of mom who doesn’t hide behind the façade of perfection but instead embraces her imperfections? The kind of mom who knows she has but a moment to pray, so she grabs hold of just the right prayer to offer earnestly? The kind of mom whose kids know she – and they – can laugh at mistakes and welcome grace from each other and make things right with a sincere apology and the promise of new mercy in the morning? That’s my kind of mom.
Sharing the real moments of mothering with other moms has changed me, it’s changed how I see you, and it’s changed how I see my failures. In sharing our confessions, God redeems that which we’ve deemed failure.
Read the rest at Lisa-Jo’s place, and jump in with your own Real Mom Confession! I promise we’ll laugh and cry with you, judging not and loving wholly.
