I may never have a super flat stomach or a tiny waste, and I'm always aware of all my flaws. And for all the exercise goals, dietary changes, and shifts in the way that I dress, it's still so easy to put one's life on hold *until* everything we are discontent with becomes a little more "perfect."
And in this season of limbo as we try and sell our home in hopes of something a little more spacious for our large family, I recognize again and again what is true for both my body and my home: I just can't wait for "perfect"...
I can't wait for "perfect" to change.
I can't wait for "perfect" to try new things.
I can't wait for "perfect" to grow.
I can't wait for "perfect" to be brave.
I can't wait for "perfect" to have fun.
I can't wait for "perfect" to take a risk.
I can't wait for "perfect" to own it.
We don't think we're perfectionists, but we really are.
So...I stopped waiting for someday, and went ahead and wore my favorite pencil skirt today. It's an old pencil skirt that I used to look much better in. And while I am still a work in progress physically, working to grow stronger, more active, and leaner after six boys...I'm just tired of always comparing myself to an impossible standard.
I want to enjoy being the best version of who I am right now.
Have you given up on being stylish because you're waiting for the last 10 pounds you want to lose? Are you unwilling to get out of your sweats because you won't look the way you hope to in the mirror?
(What about your home? My friend, The Nester wrote a book about imperfectly beautiful homemaking...she says it so beautifully. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.)
If you struggle with these things sometimes, as I do, here are 6 things I keep in mind when I'm striving to be content and joyful in my body (and home!)....
1) There's no end to discontentment.
2) Do you have the same fervor for spiritual growth as you do for physical improvement? Don't concentrate on the physical man to the neglect of the spiritual.
3) Make Romans 12:1 as a paradigm for what our bodies are supposed to be used for: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
4) What people notice first and what they remember long after, is always your smile.
5) Bodies are the stuff of earth. We are but jars of clay. The treasure's what's inside. 2 Corinthians 4:7
6) This is not your final body, this is not our home. 1 Corinthians 15:54
Friends, let's steward well these temples we've been given...but let us worship Christ with our bodies, and not the idea of perfect temples! I'm preaching to my own heart here...and loving you all who echo these longings as well.
Because of grace,
