Fingerprints on the Window

We all see it. Our own messy places that scream out to us every second of the day that somehow we aren’t good enough. Those  fingerprints, peeling paint, wall scribbles, smudges, and drips that we all have if you look hard enough. We don’t often notice other peoples drips , spills, and messes though do we? I know I don’t.
My own though, cannot be silenced.

I could list the things I fail at daily. The list would be so long that most would loose interest before getting halfway through.

Why do we , as women, compare ourselves so much to those around us? Those messy spaces we have are not unique to us. Everyone has them… don’t they?
I often catch myself in my mind watching families wishing I had just a little more of what they have. The “put together”  or the “well behaved”  scream to me, not they are doing a great job, but that I somehow am failing.

I struggle with this a lot.

I work hard to remember that I too am a child of God, and that he loves me. He called me to serve and be where I am. I am not here by accident but purposefully and by his design. Simply put.
My life, exactly the way it is, is not a mistake. Even my drips, spills, and fingerprints.

So my house isn’t magazine clean, and my laundry pile may eat me if I don’t get to it tomorrow. I may have a ton of gray hairs, and wrinkles on my forehead. I may be selfish, and angry, and bad at empathy. But…
I have amazing children who did not get that way by accident. Yes, thankfully God makes up the difference between where I am and where he is.  I am not perfect, but I am good enough.

I don’t know the eyes in which my children see me, but I do know the eyes through which I see them.
I need to be as kind with myself as I am with everyone else.

Annemarie Chagnon

You Leave Me Breadless

We are currently a family of 7 (yes 7 really) My husband and I have 5 children on earth and one precious baby in heaven. We are Catholic and we are Quiverful. We live in a small town in Southern Massachusetts. We try to live as simply as possible. We are a family of special needs people and we work every day to make this house work