Last week was all about refresh and it was a joy to talk through it with y'all. This week, I'm going to let some other precious ladies use this space to talk about how THEY find refreshment. First up today is Sarah from Messes & Moments. After you read her sweet heart, check out below for some totally unrelated family news we have below.
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I have a shirt (or tunic?) that I’ve been waiting to wear
for a couple of months now. It’s one of
the only truly cute maternity shirts that I have bought for this second
pregnancy (I would call it stylish but I don’t really pretend to know). I’ve been holding off on wearing it - not
even removing the tags - until I could really be sure I’d have my makeup and
hair done and possibly have enough polish on my toes that people wouldn’t gawk
at me. I didn’t want to waste cuteness
on my everyday look.
Honestly though, I don’t know that if I hadn’t been reading
Jessi’s series on practical ways to become
refreshed last week that I would have ever torn the tags off of that shirt
before having this next child. The
culprit for my infrequent attempts at refreshing: guilt.
We are in full-time ministry, and I’m a full-time mom, and I
daily convince myself that a messy bun will definitely cut it, and these jeans don’t have that much dried banana on them, and I have bigger issues to worry
about than being sure to make for time to change these things.
But last week, I found myself nodding with stinging eyes,
reading honest words here from another weary mom, and I opened my hands up to
just a sprinkling of grace, a gift I
don’t let myself receive as often or as freely as it is available. I let the lie that self-care is equal to
selfishness play it’s drum loudly, drowning out where rest and renewal could be
my song.
I fought it all last week.
It took me until Friday evening, right before we went on our date, to
finally straighten my messy mane into something fixed, and I finally wore
that shirt. Seriously, I almost
ended up with a messy bun and a loose, frumpy t-shirt, but I forcefully reminded
that I am important too - not the most important, but still, I’m worth a little
work, and I need a little grace.
For me, it’s not so much in the act of hair-fixing and
cute-shirt-wearing and rest-taking as it is in giving myself the space to need the refreshment that those things offer. I have to force myself to remember that I can offer a much better mom, wife, and
friend when I am feeling refreshed, put together, and rested. I get more done, feel less messy and more
ready to face the day, and I avoid less reflective surfaces when I allow myself
to have needs and to pay attention to those needs and
perhaps to wear non-fruit-stained jeans - sometimes.
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Amen to all of that. I love this, Sarah!
Ok, one more short tidbit I wanted to share. My husband has a blog!
And some news about what our family is going to be up to next.
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