Acknowledging and accepting your beautiful mess
September 26, 2013 meeting
As mothers, or just humans in general, we compare our lives
to those around us. We go and visit a friend to have a little relaxing time and
yet we spend the time subconsciously inspecting their lives and comparing them
to our own. Her kitchens sink in empty…eek! mine at home is full of dirty
dishes. Her floor looks like it hasn’t been mopped in a couple days….I just
mopped mine – score one for me! Well today we watched a MOPS clip called “Avoiding
Mothering Comparisons” which addressed this habit beautifully.
The speaker, Shauna Niequist, a bestselling author (Bread
& Wine) and a Christian mother of two boys discusses how in five minutes of
looking at Facebook or Pinterest and you can walk away feeling miserable. She
even laughed as she said “…and who actually does all of the things they pin
anyway!” She talks about how social media networks are places where people can
edit their lives – focus on the bad or focus on the positive and “perfect
parts” of life. Yet we all fall into the trap of believing everything we see
and comparing our lives to those photos and status updates.
Shauna
went on to talk about how we need to watch the manner in which we talk to other
moms. We should try to connect with them and not try to make them feel judged.
We need to refrain from inappropriate jokes, which might lead to hurt feelings
for both parties. For example, when you run into a friend whose child has a
black eye or a lump on their head instead of saying “what did you do to your
child?” or “what have your parents done to you?” you could simply say “kids
fall, I know mine do, it’s no big deal, it’s a part of life.” Don't try to make
yourself look good, because no parent enjoys seeing their kid fall, get
stitches or have bruises.
*Practice the Art
of Gratitude*
Finally, she said how we are not
perfect, nor shall we ever be, no matter how hard we try. Instead of comparing
yourself to someone you think is super mom, be grateful for the things you do
have and don’t focus on what you don’t have. Shauna suggested at the dinner
table, go around and have each person say something they are grateful for
today. It doesn’t have to be something they did that day or someone they have
seen recently – just whatever they are thankful for!
“For me this video is a wonderful
reminder that I am doing my best and I should accept and appreciate that. I
heard someone say once ‘if you woke up today to only the things you thanked God
for yesterday – what would you have?’ and it stuck with me. So in our family I
thank God every day for my kids and my husband and all of the blessing, and
sometimes the struggles, he has given me that day” said Hilkka, Assistant
Coordinator.
Things to
think about:
· In what ways
are you most likely to make comparisons?
· What keeps
you from making unhealthy comparisons?
· When do you
feel most confident in Who God has created you to be?
We had several “house keeping” items to take care of during
this meeting too. We signed up for items to donate for our Operation Christmas
Child service project (which is scheduled for November 14th). We discussed our
upcoming Blessing Table and the guidelines for those items. We also talked
about the October Special Event, which will be a movie night October 18 with
more information to follow.
Thank you to everyone for
attending and BIG thank you to those who provided food!
Have a blessed week and we
hope to see you soon!
