{dear you...}

i've been gone a while.

it's been a long {faith increasing}, {knee bending}, summer, fall and winter.

but thankfully it seems that we are settling back into life in Ft. Collins.

we're still busy with parenting, spending time with friends and family, homeschooling, holidaying,

 and other such things.

delaney started kindergarten.

amelia started preschool.

remi started walking.

as much as i'd love to update you on our lives...i've been convicted to do something else.

i need to talk to some people. 

i want to write an open letter.

here goes:

dear woman, 

whether you are a wife. mother. single woman. girl living at home. whatever you are.

(i'm sure this applies to men too, but i'm gonna speak directly to the ladies today.)

stop comparing.

stop looking through the window of the lives of the other women around you.

chances are, it's not so glamorous on the inside.

i'm not saying that everyone's lives are a wreck, i'm just saying it's probably not what you expect.

we are all fallen, stumbling sinners.

not a single one of us has it all together as a mom, as a student, in our marriages.

i've done plenty of comparing.

"oh, look at her!  she's so together.  i'm sure she is the best most engaged self sacrificing mother.  i'm sure she is the best most selfless and giving wife meeting all her husbands needs with never a nag.  i'm sure she is such a faithful friend, never forgetting to return that phone call, write that email, send that encouraging text message.  i'm sure she never misses a quiet time and certainly she has the book of james memorized. i'll bet she's consistently in prayer throughout the day, never being anxious about tomorrow.

{if only} i could be more like her."

if only.

if only we would choose to hear what our dear Savior is trying to tell us...

my sweet sweet friend, liz, talked a couple of times this summer about how much she was impacted by Jesus words to Peter in the end of John 21.  and her words and her passion to believe truth has inspired me numerous times.

John 21: 20-22 (emphasis mine)

"Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following the, the one who had been reclining at the table close to him and had said, 'Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?'  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about this man?'  Jesus said to him, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?  You follow me!'"

so women, you follow Jesus.  {what is it to you} what other women are doing?

Jesus has individually called us to individual lives.

i am accountable for myself.

not for that woman who seems to have it all together.

i'm not accountable for the faith that that woman seems to have.

i'm accountable for my own faith.

if you look into my window, i can guarantee i don't have it all together.

so let's stop comparing and let's ask God what He would have for each of our lives individually.

much love,

the girl who doesn't have it all together.