Girl, show yourself some grace!

I hope all the lovely mamas out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I had the best day with my little love and I’m truly thankful God allowed me to be a mama! It’s truly the best gift! I’m far from a perfect mama, I make mistakes and I sometimes get it wrong, but I’m thankful for the journey! In honor of this very special day, I’m chatting with you about GRACE! Each mama out there needs a little grace from time to time and I’m encouraging you to show yourself a little grace even in the mess you may find yourself in! You don’t have to be a mama for this to apply to YOU! This is for anyone looking in a mirror of comparison, self doubt, anxiety, stress, worry, etc.! You are doing an amazing job and I hope by the end of this blog you’ll think so too!

Grace, what is it? After reading many definitions and meanings, I decided that to me it simply means the GIFT of love, favor, and courtesy given when it may not be deserved. I’ve been thinking about the amazing grace shown to us by God. The grace we didn’t earn but is freely given. The grace that picks us up when we are down. The grace that covers us with favor though we are undeserving. The same grace shown to us by God is the same grace we should show others, and most importantly show ourselves. Whether it comes naturally or not, we must stop and make the choice to show God’s grace any chance we get.

For many of us, extending grace to others comes much easier than extending grace to ourselves. We understand others busy schedules, dirty dishes, piles of laundry, cancelled plans, crying children, and so on! We show grace to those we love and care about but for many of us, extending grace to the person in the mirror is very hard! We don’t give ourselves grace when we need it, instead, we expect more from the inner self that has nothing left to give. We expect perfection and we are so hard on ourselves when we can’t live up to our own expectations. Unrealistic expectations of who we think we should be. Have you ever been here? I know I have been, many many times.

Sadly, the inner “mean girl” is the meanest around most days. We let that mean girl treat us like we would NEVER treat others. Like we would never let someone else treat us.. I had to stop and ask myself WHY?! Why am I so hard on myself? Why are you so hard on yourself? Why do we expect perfection which turns in to anxiety and stress that we really don’t need? There are so many answers to these questions that it would be impossible to name them all. Many of us compare ourselves to others and to what we see on the surface. We are looking in a mirror of comparison, the mirror of Instagram, the mirror of Facebook, the mirror of Pinterest, thinking we will never have it all together and will never measure up to the “perfect” we see all around us.

Well friend, I’m here to tell you that YOU are amazing and you are doing an incredible job at this crazy thing called life. You are a good wife, mama, friend, sister, etc.! You are strong. You are resilient. You are capable of whatever you put your mind to. You are beautiful. You are kind. You are enough! You just have to believe it. You must remind yourself of who you are and cut yourself some slack in those really hard moments! Even when it doesn’t seem like your reality, speak positive and good over your life. In the same way, I encourage you to continue showing grace to others around you. Maybe you find yourself judging the mama or lady who appears to have it all together. Maybe she needs a friend. Maybe she needs a hug or a “you’re doing a great job” because she too is criticizing her inner self.. We ALL need a little grace from time to time. I promise that extending grace to yourself and others around you will fill the void you are feeling.

Ladies, our maker says we are good enough. He says we are more than enough! He says we are strong and capable. He says we can make mistakes and still find forgiveness! He says our mess is okay and we must refuse to listen to anyone or anything that says otherwise. We are made in the image of God. I choose to start seeing myself as God sees me. I choose to look through the mirror of God’s GRACE! I choose to believe the truth, will you do the same?

Girl, show yourself some grace!

XXX, Alexandrea