Words of Encouragement- My Beautiful Mess

This post is my way of offering words of encouragement to my fellow moms. It also offers a visual look behind-the-scenes of my real life as a mommy and blogger.

I’m a part of a wonderful group of women called Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS). There are somewhere between 50 and 60 of us who meet twice a month to come alongside one another and cheer each other on as we journey through the experience of motherhood. If you are a mom with young children, I encourage you to find a MOPS group, or a similar group in your area. These women have helped me tremendously in my walk as a new mom.

Our theme this year at MOPS is a Beautiful Mess. It’s about being authentic as a woman and mother by sharing our hearts and what is really going on. I think it’s so hard not to compare. Every time I visit the pediatrician’s office I’m notified what percentile my children are in terms of weight and height. If I arrange a play date it’s hard not to compare their verbal skills or their coordination skills with other children. No matter what I do or don’t do I’m always worried if I measure up as a mom and if they are “normal”. Here you might notice my two messy boys that I love with all my heart!

If I look online – especially at things like Pinterest or other blogger’s web sites, it’s very hard not to compare if I’m doing as much with my kids as they are, or if I’m doing as good a job as other bloggers are doing in the areas of cooking, cleaning, and homeschooling their kids.

If you’ve ever felt this way on any level, then my beloved reader, this post is for you.

Motherhood is not an easy job. We can’t do everything right all of the time.

I love these encouraging words for moms from scripture:

Philippians 4:8 (KJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

This scripture inspires me to be the best mom that God created me to be. It has inspired me to have a positive outlook on life and has influenced how I blog.

My blog is written to share what I’ve learned about preschooler development. On my blog I also share creative ideas, inspiration, words of encouragement, free printables and anything that I think may be of value to my readers. But in this post, I’d like to share my Beautiful Mess. When you visit my blog you see the highlights of my creativity, but my home life is very real.

On an average day, after spending the morning playing, watching videos, creating crafts, and grocery shopping, my living space is very messy. I usually manage to put this all away just before my husband gets home from work. On this particular day I took a picture of our living space so that I could show him what it looked like before he got home.

My home looks ransacked by preschoolers most of the time – because I love having an environment filled with activities that encourage curiosity and play. But my kids don’t get all the blame – my office is all my own and off-limit to my kids. Here is what it looks like.

Now I could tell you a long story to explain how it got this cluttered, but that would be crazy. Let me just say, my home life is very real.

If you’re a reader, can you relate? If you can, I would sooooo love to hear from you.

Before I became a mom I would make a list of 25 things for my to-do list every day. Now that I’m a mom, I’ve learned to be content with just two or three. Things eventually do get organized and projects get finished. It just takes a whole lot longer now. I’m ok with that. My priorities start with God, my husband, my kids, and the rest stems from there. If I have clean clothes for everyone, a warm meal ready, and we get to spend some quality time together as a family – then that’s a good day. If other stuff gets done too – well that’s icing on the cake.

I blog because I feel called to. I love to write and share what I’m learning, document some of the things going on in our lives, and meet and engage with others via this amazing online community.

But my home is very real. Very beautiful. And, at times, very messy.

When I share things I’ve created, or photos that include my home and children, most of the time, you’re seeing a highlight reel. Because it’s “lovely” and of “good report” and I want to share positive things. But this post, this post is about beauty. Beauty in the mess. I love my beautiful mess and I’m happy to share that too. And I pray it’s an encouragement to you.

Do you have a beautiful mess you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you.

Your mommy friend in a beautiful mess,