This world can really get us down in a hurry.  There are beautiful Instagram pictures of beautiful people, lavish vacations, perfectly behaved kids, pristinely decorated homes....and that's just on Instagram.  We live in a world where comparison seems to be thrown in front of us constantly.  Deep down we know we are comparing someone else's highlight reel to our own raw footage, but it's still not enough.

If you're like me then within a matter of moments you might find yourself comparing your body, ability, "goodness" as a Christian, home-making skills, writing skillls, business success.... what gives?

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

I've taken some time to reflect on this over the past few weeks and here's what I've found.  When I fix my eyes on JESUS rather than the WORLD I am able to not only appreciate and optimize my OWN JOURNEY, but I can also rejoice with others in their successes.  When I am able to see my "flaws" as gifts then I find authenticity.  When I realize that those whom I love and respect most show their messy parts in equal proportions to the pretty parts, I am empowered.  When I am just ME I feel set free.

As I reflect I can see the journey God has had me on even since we started Momsanity over 3 years ago.  The more I am ME the more I am FREE.  Here are some things about me that I used to hide and that today I want to splay out for you and hopefully you'll find we have at least one thing in common:

1.  My house is never spotless except in the .5 seconds after it's been cleaned.  We live busy lives and I choose not to spend too much extra time cleaning up.

2.  I rarely DO my hair.  Yes I blow dry it, but I'm not very good at styling so it's usually down or up in no fancy way

3.  I am rarely early.  Right on time or a little late is much more likely.  I try to fit too many things into too little time so when anything goes wrong I end up being late.

4.  I love my husband to pieces and respect him to the moon and back- but our marriage is not perfect. See #5. We work hard and ask God for lots of help.

5.  As an only child I have a tendency to be selfish.  I have to fight that selfishness every day and ask God for help.

6.  I am a sinner saved by grace.  When left to my own devices I put just about everything in front of my relationship with God.  I need Him every hour.  Every minute.

7.  Motherhood is often a challenge for me.  I am not very good at playing nor am I creative.  I look to others inspiration to help me figure out how to play boy games.

8.  I truly love to exercise.  I struggled with disordered eating and over-exercising for years and am thankful that God used my journey for His glory and that I can now teach women balance.

9.  I love to bring people together.  New friendships and community make me really happy.  I also find it pretty easy to drum up conversation with just about anyone.  When I got over worrying about everyone "liking" me and only showing the "pretty" parts I found that SO MANY more authentic relationships were built.  

10.  I'm not super into fashion.  Yes I like to look cute, but I need someone to come and put together these super cute coordinated outfits for me.  Any takers?  By the way I'm often going from "Mom Duty" to "Business Lady" so any ideas on meshing those together are welcome!

Now... I'm not saying we should just be "ok" with our weaknesses, yes we should work on them and we should work on them daily and we should pray about them and ask God to help us with them... BUT sometimes those things we call weaknesses actually aren't.  

So what if you aren't a fashionista? So what if your house is cluttered?  YOU are YOU and YOU are BEAUTIFUL!  Let those cool and quirky things about you shine brightly.  Use your gifts daily and allow them to compliment others in your community.  Let's not spend so much time and energy "getting ready" or improving ourselves that we end up missing out on life, on opportunties, on friendships, on health, on love, onwhat GOD wants us to be doing.  

I dare you... share a quirk that makes you uncomfortable in the comments :)

- Emily