Let them see Jesus.

It used to bug to to no end when  who I was as a mom didn't measure up to who and what I wanted to be as a mom. As a dreamer and a person who gets these ideas in her head of what motherhood was going to look like and how I was going to be I wasn't willing to settle for me not being perfect and getting everything right.

My kids deserved a perfect mom and I was going to be that to them. No excuses.

But God revealed something to me once about that and I had to make a decision.

Do I want my kids to see me or do I want them to see Jesus?

In all the striving on my own to be perfect I wasn't showing my kids grace, I wasn't showing them Jesus. Instead I was showing my kids that I could live without His perfection in my life. Without realizing it I was showing my kids that mommy doesn't need Jesus to have it all together. When that is farthest from the truth.

 Truth is, we will never be perfect on our own, we'll never have it together all the time. It's reality. Some days we'll have it together and some days lego's on the floor and staying in our jammies all day just might be the best option. And that's okay!

 God revealed to me once  that if we expect ourselves to be perfect, all knowing and never make any mistakes then we need to expect that from our kids too. And if we expect ourselves to mother with perfection why would we need the Holy Spirit in the first place?

Darlings, I think one of the biggest lies the enemy tries to hit us hard with is that "you need to be a perfect mom to be a good mom." But I'm finding out that's the furthest thing from the truth. He tries to blind our eyes with that lie because he wants us to try and do it on our own not just so that we don't see Jesus but our kids won't either.

 Our children need to see our imperfections. They need to see us mess up and most importantly they need to see us give those weaknesses to God who in return makes us stronger. If they don't see us do that how will they know to do the same? Because when they see us striving on our own, surviving, and  barely making it they will learn to do the same.

We need to stop beating ourselves up when we mess up because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. God loves us, He's in a good mood, He's on our side and He has our backs. We need to know that we are forgiven and we need to forgive ourselves and allow God's wisdom into our lives.

.So moms, I'm glad you're not perfect and I'm glad I'm not perfect. It makes it a lot easier for us to understand each other and encourage one another and let God move into our lives.

Today I'm gonna choose Jesus and not surviving so that when my kids see their Mama they don't see me striving for perfection but instead they see Jesus covering their mama with strength because that is thriving at it's finest.