Authenticity is a rare & beautiful thing.
Our first year in ministry, I lead a small group of ladies
in my home. I had three little kids at the time & things were pretty hectic
around dinner time. One evening, I didn’t even get the chance to do my supper
dishes before my husband headed out for youth group, I banished the kids to bed
& the ladies began to arrive.
As one gal passed my sink, piled high with pans, to fill her
coffee cup, she burst into tears.
“It’s OK,” I said reluctantly, “They are just dishes”.
“Yes. I know.” She sobbed. “There is a sink full at my house
too but I thought mine was the only one.”
I think I speak for all of us when I say that being
authentic is scary. In a world of HGTV, Food Network, Pinterest, & other social media, most of
us not only find ourselves putting on a plastic persona when we leave our houses
but we want to continue to portray the perfect home & family even from within.
To admit we are struggling is to admit we are not perfect & for some reason
this makes us feel lacking. I get it. & yet… how can we expect to do life
together when we aren’t willing to take off our masks & truly be our real
selves all the time. When we let go of our preconceived notions of who we think
we are supposed to be; we are finally able to be exactly who God created us to
be. & maybe, just maybe… if we allow ourselves to let down those walls…
someone else will too.
After all... Grace is the face that love wears when it meets
imperfection.
& there is such beauty in imperfection… to me, dirty
dishes meant dinner around a table with my five favorite people… eating, spilling,
laughing & sharing our lives together. Messy? Yes. Martha Stewart perfect?
No.
Perfect imperfection.
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