Relate

Seven years ago I was a young 'soon-to-be' mother, just seven months pregnant with my first child, when I heard news about a bible study starting up for moms in our church. I was so excited about the opportunity to glean wisdom from other moms who had traveled this road before me - and lived to tell the tale - that I pushed aside my inadequate feelings of 'not quite mother enough', and walked into that room full of women.

I was very intimidated, considering the fact that I was not blessed with the pregnancy glow, but rather, pregnancy acne. That, coupled with the stark realization that my butt had ballooned overnight, caused the following question to play over and over in my mind...

Did I seriously just waddle like a duck?

If anyone noticed my inadequacies, they didn't make mention of it. Instead, I was greeted by an eclectic mix of women from all different walks of life and different shapes and sizes. Some newly married, others divorced or widowed. There were new mothers, mothers of teenagers and grandmothers, who, in winding through many different paths in life, and perhaps in spite of them, all came together in one room to find fellowship and relationship because of this one commonality...motherhood.

There is a lot of pressure put on mothers to be perfect. We don't want people to know that we raise our voices a little too often, or that our kids watch a little too much TV. We would be horrified if people knew that the bathroom hasn't been cleaned in two weeks or that we have had chicken nuggets and applesauce two nights in a row because we keep forgetting to take meat out of the freezer.

It is so easy to internalize our inadequacies and doubt our ability to be a good mother. And because we don't want the world to know that we often fail in the most sacred area of our lives, we become superficial and put on a face that we can do it all and be all. Even while we're falling apart on the inside.

A comedian once said, "we're all in this together, alone." While that mental image gives me a good laugh, the truth is, we don't have to be. We were created for relationship, and would do well to actually relate to people. But we have to be honest with ourselves first.

I am so thankful that seven years later, I am still apart of that womens bible study. Through being honest in our own struggles as wives, mothers and Christians, we are able to encourage and uplift each other.

It's strange how admitting your failures makes you feel a little more, well...normal.