Perfection...The real deception.

We all have done it on more than one occasion...I know I do it. I hate that I do it and wish that I would just get over it and stop doing it.
What am I doing??
Looking at other women or moms or couples and wondering why am I not like that? Why aren't hubby and I like that? Why don't my kids act like that. It is a really bad trap. I leads to a lot of guilt!
My worst trap is when it comes to other moms who seem to have it all put together. Their house is always clean, their children are spotless, and the mother's themselves look like they just came from the spa and a week at the beach...every darn time I see them!
I tried to be one of these moms one time. It lasted for a few months then I got burnt out! I discovered something about some of these moms shortly there after. The whole thing about these moms is that they 'look' put together, they 'appear' to have it all figured out and their children 'seem' to be great. Upon further inspection and actually getting to know some of these moms...they aren't any better than me or any other mom. They are just doing their best to get by. Or worse they have even bigger problems than I do.
The glimpses we get of people when out and about are just that...glimpses.

We don't know what their real lives are like. The mom that looks amazing everyday could be someone who has a lifelong struggle with an eating disorder, and is convinced she will never add up. That other mom who's house is always spotless, does it because her husband is verbally abusive and doesn't want to get yelled at again. Another mom who has absolutely everything..could really be the mom who is terrified because they can't keep up the payments to maintain 'everything'.

It is all about the deception of perfection.

No one is perfect and we all fall short. Maintaining perfection is impossible. I am happier living up front and honest than trying to convince myself and everyone else that I can do it all. I am not super mom. She doesn't exist..is she did she either died of exhaustion or is in a mental institution. (I know of a few people who ended up there because of trying to be 'That MOM') It starts to sound more like an a cult than a perfect being.

But then again I think it is all more of how we look at it.

A lot of women like to talk about striving to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Have you checked this woman out? She is pretty perfect. She buys lands and sells it, she never worries about the cold months because she has gardened, canned, sheered the sheep and made new clothes for, not only her family but also all her servants.She teaches her children. She cooks, cleans, is the perfect wife and mother.

Now don't get me wrong..I am all for striving for the Biblical example of a perfect wife. However I think people over look something, Proverbs 31 is a glimpse! Just a small glimpse of what this woman is really like. Oh I'm sure she is just as amazing as the Bible describes..But I am rather certain that she is not as perfect as some, of the people who tote her perfectness and try to be like her, realize.

Like I said. it is all about the deception of perfection. I am not saying that I think the Bible is trying to deceive us. I am saying that I think the Bible is offering us the best example of a Godly woman. Not instructing us to be carbon copies of this illusive Proverbs 31 woman.

God doesn't make robots..I am sure this poor exhausted woman on more than one occasion threw up her hands and said let the sheep sheer themselves! Let the children run wild! Plus unless that garden is in her mind..I am more than positive that it had weeds in it from time to time. There had to have been evenings where she said 'Honey, I'm too tired to cook,let's order some mana to go'

Like I said the deception of perfection...


We as mothers all too often strive so hard to be the mother of perfection. Our children see us do it and learn to do the same..Just as most of us watched our own mothers and learned from them..or we watched our mothers and vowed to never be like them. The Perfect mother does not exist. The perfect wife does not exist. The perfect woman does not exist.

However!

God is perfectly perfect in every way. He covers all of our imperfections. In His eyes we are perfectly perfect just the way we are. Yes, He wants us to strive to do our best and to work toward being like that illusive proverbs 31 woman. He knows we will have days where we fail and are less than perfect. He expects it. In fact...that's the way He made us.

I am so thankful that I serve a God who knows I am not perfect and yet loves me anyway!

Blessings!

Homestead Mommy