Will I ever be enough?
I think it’s a question all moms struggle with. We are our own worst critics; we constantly compare ourselves to those around us and to the picture we have of who we want to be, and so often we disappoint ourselves because we can only see our own shortcomings.
“My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
So in case you need to hear it: you are enough.
You, the one worrying that you are somehow failing because you haven’t sung to your baby enough, or read him the right bedtime stories, or made enough eye contact with her during the last feeding because you can barely keep your eyes open. You, the one who hasn’t slept because you made a mess of the birthday cake pops and had to start over. You, the momprenuer who can’t sleep in spite of the exhaustion because every day, you feel you are letting someone (or everyone) down, regardless of how hard you try to do it all. You, the mom in waiting who wants a child more than anything and feels like an outsider waiting to be welcomed into the motherhood. You, the stay-at-home mom who feels guilty for wanting some grown up time for just. five. minutes.
This is your note excusing you from being perfect.
There are going to be moments – heck, DAYS, that are complete failures. We are going to blow it. We are going to let everyone down: our children, our husbands, our families, our clients, our communities, and ourselves. We are going to fall short of perfection.
This is your invitation to let it go.
Can we let go of the expectation that we have to be amazing all the time? We are human. We try, we fail, we learn, we get back up by the grace of God and do it again tomorrow. And in the process we teach our children how to try and fail and learn and get back up by the grace of God and do it all again tomorrow.
You are enough.
Even when you fall short of your own expectations and desires, you are enough. Life, with all its imperfections, and the very set of circumstances you find yourself in the midst of right now – are enough.
Why?
Because we weren’t made to be perfect. We weren’t called to be Pinteresting. We weren’t promised a picture perfect life. We were each created with a unique purpose and unique character. We were created to reflect God’s light and bring glory to Him.
Every day we can choose to embrace this truth:
You’re enough because the God who created everything is enough, His grace is sufficient for us. He has called us as we are and He loves us, with all our broken parts and inadequacies and fears. When we embrace that and stop trying to fill in the gaps on our own, the divine happens: God fills them in, better than we could ever hope to, and uses us in ways that are bigger than we could believe possible.
“Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new convenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
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Crystal
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