a woman came to my mops group. she was pregnant and had a 12 month old. upon seeing my gaggle of kids...she asked if i had any advice for her.
i smirked and said, 'just cry.'
she looked at me like i had just slapped her...so i explained myself further...
if we are real. crying when we need to cry...admitting when we are overwhelmed or stressed or needing help (even just someone to sit with us and give us some company as we fold our ever growing pile of laundry). instead of waking up 4 hours ahead of our kids to make sure our hair and make-up is done. not slaving away into the wee hours of the night making sure our house is spotless. then people know that we are in over our heads...and they are able to come to our rescue.
there is no extra credit. no bonus points. no A+ in life. not even a perfect attendance award.
there is just grace. grace and community. so be real...embrace it. just cry.
I so totally agree that your advice was considered the best advice with this lady. Our pastor was speaking about something similar at church last week in a series about letting our masks done and presenting ourselves as we were really are, not with masks on saying we have it all together. Because in reality, like you mentioned, no one has it all together; we are all broken, all flawed in one way or another; that's why it is so wonderful we have grace indeed. Once we understand that we don't have to pretend to hold it together, I do think we are able then to live freely in knowing who we are in God's eyes and in turn be able to reach out to others the best we can.
ReplyDeletebetty
Oh my goodness - I love Betty above - she is a great gal.
ReplyDeleteBut it is so funny - I just read somewhere today about the benefits of crying.
I think it is good for the soul.
And I love your post.
sandie
thanks!
ReplyDeletethanks!
thanks!