Hello Mamas. You thought I forgot about you, didn't you? Welllll, it turns out I have been here all along, doing what we all do: trying to survive. I cannot describe to you the intensity of the past couple months, but to sum it up, I will say that Jesus is awesome. For being Himself, for creating reliable childcare help, and for Diet Coke at 3:30pm. For this and so many more reasons, I love Him.
I have been in a place of utter dependence upon Him, and I suppose that was the point. And what I've realized is that all my silly attempts to "have my act together" are completely in vain, because of the simple Truth that I am not supposed to have my act together. And neither are you, silly goose. We are supposed to be completely lost, flailing around like a helpless child, and then we are supposed to land in His arms and remember Him. However, I recently realized that I was stuck on the flailing part, thinking to myself, "Why can't I keep it all together here? Everyone else makes this (motherhood) look so easy!" Then I would think about my patterns of sin and lost-ness and wallow there for awhile. Then I would talk to my girlfriends, and we would dwell together on how terrible it is to be so lost and what books we should read about being so lost. Then we would cook each other dinner whilst talking about feeling so inadequate, share a glass of wine over our failures, throw our hands up in the air in despair over our powerlessness , and do it all again the next week.
Thankfully, Jesus was able to contact me during my complete and total focus on myself and introduce me to a new dear friend. We have never met, but I swear I would give her a big hug and kiss if I ran into her at Sam's Club. Because that is the only place I ever go, and I would be thrilled to run into her in the Diet Coke aisle. Her name is Elyse Fitzpatrick, and she has written many books, but there is one you MUST read. That is, if you are a mother, and if you have not yet "arrived" to perfection on earth. It is called "Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus."
I am warning you. She shares this incredible Story with you called the Gospel. It is so eye-opening. It talks about this man named Jesus who came to Earth, suffered and died for all of our shortcomings, just because of His deep love for us. Then, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, she points out the key portion of this Story is that nobody who Jesus loves is supposed to have their act together. I know!! Incredible!! The most scandalous part of the Story is that this man, Jesus, prefers that people simply accept their status as complete and total failures, so that He can shine through them and love them no matter what.
Then she writes this preposterous notion that God is ultimately responsible for the outcomes in this life, and that He alone is the only heart-changer in the world. For anyone. Mamas, kids, and husbands who don't take out the trash.
In case you're not catching my note of sarcasm, I am completely flat-out humbled, convicted, even baffled at my own silliness for, ahem, missing the entire Gospel message when things got hard. The most basic Truth of Christianity -- Grace -- had gotten lost in a world of achievement, accomplishment, self-focus, and self-reliance. My apologies, Mamas, I completely don't have my act together. But isn't it refreshing that we are not supposed to? Let's quickly shift our focus from wallowing to worshipping the Man who does really have it together. That's the place to dwell. And that's the message that Mamas, babies, and every person in the world needs to hear. He got what we deserved. Because He loves us.
So simple. So Jesus. I love Him. The End.
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
~Ephesians 2:8
