a cup of honesty, anyone?

Why is it that we as women, mothers, wives struggle so much with honesty?

We put on a false front most days and pretend that everything is a-ok.

Yeah, right! I know that my kids aren't the only ones who throw their cereal bowls on the floor, upside down, causing milk to splash up the wall and cheerios to dry rock hard onto the floor.

I know that my kids aren't the only ones to get up umpteen times throughout the night 'needing' mommy.

I know that my kids aren't the only ones who make messes faster than I can possible clean them up.

I know that my kids aren' t the only ones who are hungry every five minutes unless its meal time and then they refuse to eat what I've put in front of them.

I know that my kids aren't the only ones who get the gimmies at the grocery store.

I know that my kids aren't the only ones who are loud, noisy, crazy monkeys most of the day!



And... I know that I am not the only woman who struggles with my weight, grey hair, style, clothing, image etc!

I know that I am not the only woman who looks at my home and thinks "I wish..."

I know that I am not the only woman who looks at my life and wonders "how did I get here?!!"

I know that I am not the only woman who makes unedible things for my family.

I know that I am not the only woman who feels like there is always someone who wants something from me, or someone who 'needs' me.

I know that I am not the only woman who turns to food (snack cupboard or drawer) to comfort me.

I know that I am not the only woman who thinks I should be more, do more, have more!

I know that I am not the only woman who struggles to spend the time with God that I know I should.


So why does it feel that I am the only one...


I am thinking about this today, because I have had several friends who have recently commented on how much they appreciate my honesty and the honesty with which I am writting this blog. It makes me think... why is it that we are so fake with eachother. Is it competitiveness? Is it societal expectations that we must live up to? Is it pressures from our mothers? Why is honesty and transparency rare? Why do we pretend that everything is a-ok when we really want to cry, or yell, or go back to bed?

My experience is that when honesty prevails, there is an opening for the Lord to work. In binding two people together in friendship, love, or even in working relationships. I'm not talking honesty like, "You look like you've gained weight," honesty, but I'm talking, "Boy, I had a hard day, my kids did this, my husband wanted that, and then...." I'm talking, "I've really be thinking about the area of grace, and I read this passage and I don't know what God is saying to me..." I'm talking, "I really want to buy __________, but we just can not afford it right now, and that sucks!"

Maybe some of you have it all together, can do whatever you want, can buy whatever you like, never have a bad day with your kids or husband or best friend... maybe some of you are Martha Stewart and Beth Moore and Cat Deely all  wrapped up in one. I'm not one of you, and I'm not even going to pretend!

Perhaps we should all add a little more honesty to our days, within ourselves, our friendships, our marriages. I wonder what kind of change it would bring?


Challenge update:
If you care... I started to cut down my wardrobe yesterday for my 45 for 45 remix challenge. And well, it was funny. I started and thought this might now be so bad. I was chucking things left and right, discarding items easily. And then I counted my keep pile of clothing. 65 items. Not including the stuff in the laundry that I knew I wanted to keep, or shoes (which I am including in my 45 items)!!! So I started cutting even more items out. Next count was 45 (again not including laundry items or shoes). This is still a work in progress, which I may be able to finish today. But its harder than I originally thought. I will be doing laundry more than normal, and may be dressing up more too. 
We also went to the city lastnight to buy some home improvement items, and I caught myself looking at the stores that I love in earnest... thinking, "I wonder what kind of deals they have on right now?" And I had to cross off my calendar a used book sale that I had been looking forward to. And so it begins!