Hey, your body should actually look like this.
Hey, your house should look perfect and trendy.
Hey, you should be a homebody and also super social.
Hey, you should be frugal and money savvy but wealthy.
Hey, you should let people know when you do something good.
Hey, you'll look happy if you show people that you have sweet moments with your family.
Hey, you'll look successful if you help people.
Hey, people should be really involved in your life and it's your job to keep them there.
Hey, you should be a fantastic mom but not just a mom because that's not enough.
You should show. You should post. You should buy. You should read. You should say. You should send. You should know. You should look.
The noise in my life as a young mom is jarring. And I'm not at all talking about my two toddlers. I'm talking about the lies that you just read that this world is CONSTANTLY, AGGRESSIVELY shoving at me.
I know I'm not alone. We constantly are trying to do it all and also we know that we will never be able to do it all.
The perfect lives of others that we see in reality aren't even perfect, and yet we can't help ourselves.
If we can't make it real...hell, we are at least going to make it look real. If not all the time, than at least some of the time.
If you read Part 1 of this post you might be wondering where my Franceses went. They are right here in the noise of this life.
I know that we are all called to be saints, meaning the Lord desires all of us to be in Heaven with Him one day. But what does that mean...practically? And for me today?
For Saint Frances, she thought that the way she would draw closest to God was if she was a nun. But that wasn't the best way. In fact, having a family - with all of the care, time, thought, energy, and love that goes into that - was the way that God chose for her.
And do you know what she had to say about that? If she couldn't spend all of her time in front of Him in a chapel, you best believe she was gonna bring Him with her.
"A married woman must, when called upon, quit her devotion to God at the altar and find Him in her household affairs." (Saint Frances of Rome)
Substitute what you will...married or single, woman or man, young or old. We are called to find Him in whatever we are called to do in our lives, wherever we are spending our time, among whomever we are around.
I see it all so clearly now. I was 17, I had no clue who she was and I honestly didn't care all that much. And yet, God placed before me the life of a woman who would show me how to be a saint in this crazy world I am in. In the life that I was given.
She's a saint for you, too. She shows us that you CAN find God in whatever life you are living, in whatever stage, at whatever time. Dang, I'm grateful for that double Frances.
So, I ask you to join me. Find Him in emails. In the phone calls. In the diaper changes. In the shuttling kids back and forth. In the lonely quiet time. In the meals. In the walks. In the grocery shopping (yikes, that's a doozy for me). In the aches and pains. In the shame. In the brokenness. In the joy. In the fear. In the laughter.
Find Him.
Lord, I ask you to remain with me every day. Help me to see you in even the most mundane or tedious tasks. Reveal yourself to me in the frustrating times as well as the joyful times. Continue to show me how to honor the vocation you have given me, yet keep you as the compass of my life - keeping me, though I stumble, on the path to you. Thanks for giving me both of my Franceses, your beloved daughters. Thanks for leading me even when I don't know you are leading me. Thanks for loving me so much.
Amen
Saint Frances of Rome. Pray for Us.
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