A LITTLE TOO REAL…
Today, my friend and I had a really good laugh…. at me.
I had just described for her the utter perfection of my daughter’s friend’s house. I also mentioned how the mother wore pressed dress pants and crisp tops for errands around town.
None of that is funny. It is impressive.
The funny part was the description of me standing in their gorgeously decorated home speaking to this put together momma.
Here is a picture I just had my husband take of me to help you fully understand.
Yes, that’s right. Very stylish. Those are, in fact, cut off sweat pants. The best part is I had just cut them off this morning. Thank God I did not wear the part I had saved as a headband!
Now, to add to this glorious picture…. My daughters who were with me were both incredibly dirty. My middle child had a huge brown patch of dirt on her shirt. Her hair was in a ratty pony tail that looked as if she hasn’t brushed it in days. My youngest had dirt caked jeans, dirty hands, smudged glasses, and dirt around her mouth- AROUND HER MOUTH! I don’t know how… it just was.
I chatted with this mother as if we were even remotely in the same world, but I cringed inside about how insanely messy and not put together my little section of family was in front of pristine beauty.
Not to mention, earlier in the week the father from the same family had been in our home when it was full of random boxes from our church plant’s equipment opening party. Picture this, but spattered throughout the main living area of my home:
I had been mildly embarrassed at the time, but I had also patted myself on the back for not letting it bother me too much to let a stranger see my home that way. I thought I had come so far in learning to give myself grace and live authentically.
Now that I’ve seen their home, I take it back. I am not okay! LOL
This is why my friend and I had a good laugh. There was nothing else to do but laugh. This is me, and this is my world right now.
My home is destroyed and put back together every couple of days as we use it as a staging ground for a church where even messy people are welcome.
The girls and I were a dirty mess because we had gone with my neighbor and her family for a beautiful hike and picnic. During our little adventure, the kids had climbed rocks and trees, walked with arms draped across each other’s shoulders, given piggy back rides, and laughed. Although they were not clean, I had thought they were a picture of perfection.
It is silly that I let my ego alter my perspective when the environment changed. Thankfully, I had a good friend to laugh at me and with me.
I have a feeling that as time goes on, this is a story the mother of my daughter’s friend will get a chance to laugh at too. I’m sure she, like anyone else, has her moments of imperfection, and that is why we will be able to get along just fine.
So, my dear friends, put on a smile. Rock your messy buns, yoga pants, cut off sweats, or what have you. This is real life, and we are living it together.
When I was a teen I babysat at a house where all the furniture was covered in plastic. My mom told me, “That house doesn’t look lived in. A house has to be lived in.” That comment is the reason my house looks so VERY lived in today.
Lol… The only plastic covering my furniture is from the juice bottles I keep telling my kids to put in the trash! I’m glad you too are LIVING in your home. 😀
One thing I look forward to as my kids get older is not having to search the house for missing sippy cups with potentially rotten juice or milk!
P.S. Thanks for inspiring my thoughts & my tomorrow blog post. Hope you don’t mind I added a link to your post.
I am honored. Thanks!
I literally laughed out loud at most of this post! I can hear you telling the story and laughing about it. Well written. You took us on your journey and we can all relate. 😁
Honestly, I cant remember the last time I didnt have every hair in place. Rocking those messy buns I will not, I cannot do. 😉
Lol… Yes, I can see how the messy bun might not be your look!
[…] The very real blog post A Little too Real inspired my thinking that led to this post. It’s a great […]
Having spent a good part of my adult life recognizing your pictures above reflected in the world inside our home, I came to realize after time that having things in place is a process and not a thing. I began to accept that having the right thing in the right place when it was needed was perhaps all we were ever going to get. If we were lucky. It taught me to relax about controlling the world around me and focus on love and caring while enjoying the huge wave of ‘mess’ that seemed to slosh about the house like water in a bathtub. Thanks for the post 🙂
That is a great perspective!