BATTER UP... PERFECTION IMPOSSIBLE!

      Tis’ the season for ball practices, ball games, loads of extra laundry and no chill time.  As a momma I always feel stressed out this time of year.  Routine and calm are my sanity, and when life gets crazy and messy I tend to do random things like forget what day it is, look for my cell phone I am talking on, or forget to put the laundry in the dryer to find out the load smells like a moldy mess- only to wash them again;) 

      Lucas, my husband, coaches my ten year old’s baseball team and my seven year old daughter is playing softball again this year.  I am constantly telling them, “Just do your best…don’t worry about it.  Have fun!  You are taking it way to serious…It really wasn’t as bad as you thought it was.” All the while, I am stressing out over the adult version of what they are stressing out over and many times I am failing epically. 

      As a mom I think I need to be perfect.  Do you ever feel that way?  Not only perfect, but if I am struggling with anything- I keep it hidden so my witness will “shine through.”  Besides, being a Christian means to be perfect, right? The answer is absolutely NOT!  Jesus wants US, not the put together- fake us.  He wants us to be real with Him and with everybody else.  I struggle with relaxing with perfection.  We will NEVER be perfect.  We have a huge problem.  It is a sin problem, and God knows it and still loves us. (Romans 5:8) 

       I continually struggle with unnecessary guilt, shame and fear we all suffer from this side of heaven.  Satan throws so much bait our way.  Our kids want us to play with them, we feel guilty if we don’t.  Guilt, shame and fear is not of God.  He convicts, yes, but conviction pulls us to Him, but he never shuns us away from Himself.  He loves us no matter what we do or say. Discipline and consequences are part of the nasty sin cycle, but he is full of love… He is LOVE. If we are His child He wants us to be real with ourselves and everyone around us… and I don't know about you, but I struggle with that.   

     He has brought to my attention of course to do my best… read the Word… do what He says… but also Deuteronomy 32:4 tells us, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”  He is the perfect ONE.  My children are never going to be perfect, and I most certainly am never going to be perfect, but we need to swing for the fences anyway!  Let Jesus coach, trust and obey, but when we fail- get up and swing again!  Don’t be so hard on yourself… enjoy the game;)  With Jesus' help we just might swing one right over the fence!

 

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