So Long Perfection!

So this topic has been on my mind for quit sometime because, I find myself struggling with the concept of perfection. Here is what I have discovered about this concept. Perfection is not obtainable on this side of Heaven. I say this because I know without a doubt that if we could obtain "perfection" then Jesus' death on the cross was in vain. God sent his son to die on the cross and take away are sins so we could live with him in paradise. God didn't sent his son so we could accept him and all of a sudden obtain "perfection status." We as humans are born sinners and for this reason we will never be perfect in our first life, but be perfect in our 2nd life if we has a personal relationship with Jesus. A while back I had the opportunity to go to Texas for a Mom's bootcamp weekend! I can't even begin to describe to you the awesomeness of this bootcamp for weary mom's. For those interested in this it's called Momlife Bootcamp and it is held in the spring at Pine Cove Christian camp, check it out. It won't disappoint.
So back in March I find myself down in Texas on this beautiful camp property thinking that I was in for some much needed mommy quiet time. What I didn't know was God was about to reveal to me that my strive for Worldly perfection was just that, Worldly. In my 48 hour period of time spent in Texas I found something I wasn't expecting, I found imperfection all around. You see I mention this was a bootcamp and it was intense:
we had praise music
we had games
we had horseback riding
we zip lines
we had massages
we even had a dance party
and of course several Bible seasons lead by amazing mom's just like me who too were imperfect ladies trying to navigate through this role we call motherhood.
For months I had lived in a state of "autopilot" meaning I went through the motions just to get through my day, never truly investing my time, energy and heart into the lives of my family. This is where things got sticky, since I was not investing myself fully, my family suffered.  We as humans have allowed ourselves and others to dictate how we should live base on the Worldly view of perfection, and not how God truly sees us.
You see God see's us for who we are right now! God takes the beauty from our mess and sees our heart not what we show on the outside.
Let's face it we as moms have it rough sometimes. We are constantly watched under that Worldly microscope and if we slip up in the slightest we are unworthy of acceptance. You see if we were to compare ourselves to the standards of this World of perfection, than one strike your out! No second chances, no grace. And sometimes this means no friends because others are caught up in Worldly perfection. I don't know about you but I am so thankful that my king sees me from the inside and not by my failures. One of the most important things I took away from that bootcamp experience is this, I am a mess but I'm God's beautiful mess and I'm enough! My kids are gifts from God and he knows what he is doing! He knew I would be the "perfect" mom for my kids. God never makes a mistake.
Wow, powerful stuff I know,
God loves me when I feel like I have "failed" as a mom.
God loves me when I feel as if my kids "deserve" someone else to be their mom.
God loves me for me and knows that I am going to mess up
So this concept of striving for perfection is just that a concept.  So we as fellow moms need to stick together. When we see a mom mess up we need to be bold and share with that mother that we too are imperfect people living in an imperfect World striving to be a little like Jesus, and it's ok to mess up!
So I am no longer going to strive for perfection. I will live out my days as a mother to my children and a wife to my husband knowing that I too will mess up, in more ways than one, But God is there to walk me through it. So a challenge to my mom friends don't strive for something you will never achieve on this Earth but strive for doing your best, because in God's eyes your best is enough!