Guest Post by Kristin Hill Taylor

I am excited to have a guest poster on the blog today.  Her name is Kristin and we met on facebook via the No More Perfect Moms launch team group.  She was gracious to have me guest post on her blog a couple days ago and I'm happy to have her here now.  So looking forward to getting to know her and learn from one another! 


Our heater had to be replaced so everything from that closet was piled elsewhere in the basement. I had moved my 3-year-old boy to his new room, which prompted purging of one hallway closet and his old closet, rearranging his new closet which is so large it’s really still a family closet, and sorting through clothes that don’t fit my growing boy anymore. That all created separate piles to consign and give away.

There were crumbs from various past meals still lingering under the table, which had some sticky spots leftover from my boy’s fingerprints from choosing not to use his fork. Recyclables filled one side of my sink while dirty dishes awaited my attention in the other. Really, why do I put off unloading the dishwasher when it takes about seven total minutes?

Both my kids had various pairs of shoes and socks scattered like a trail through the living room. A basket of cleaned and folded clothes sat near our bedroom door and plenty of dirty clothes waited for their turn in the washing machine.

I had forgotten to thaw something for dinner. It’s nice having meals already prepared in the freezer, but, um, they don’t cook themselves. My family wanted butter for their rolls, but I had used the last of it the day before and I wasn’t going to the grocery store for one condiment.

The new-to-me minivan had a flashing light on the dashboard that was telling me a sophisticated tire pressure monitoring system needed attention. Thankfully, my tires were fully aired up. Yes, I checked, even after my husband told they were fine. And more than a week after my dentist put a crown on one of my back teeth I was having sporadic but intense pain.

While observing this and trying not to think about how I just didn’t feel great, I said to my husband, “This house will never been clean again.”

Without hesitation, he said, “That’s alright.”

Then I realized he didn’t reassure me cleanliness and organization that meet my often-too-high standards would happen. But he did reassure me that my worth as a wife and mom wasn’t found in my housekeeping habits.

The crumbs will get swept. The piles will be organized and given and stored. Our heater is fixed and those dishes have been unloaded so others could be loaded. The laundry is a never-ending cycle, but, hey, I love these people who need to be clothed.

I had thought Jill Savage wrote “No More Perfect Moms” for me. But I soon realized I’m not alone in needing to be reminded to let go. Her words have echoed what God had already been speaking into my heart.

“We can’t be perfect parents, but we can act in partnership with a perfect God. There is peace, hope, and expectancy in that statement.” {From “No More Perfect Moms” by Jill Savage}

While embracing imperfection, I’m seeing how God perfects me through the ordinary moments that don’t go like I see them with my no-good perfectionist ways. We won’t be perfect in this lifetime, but we are being refined and matured and strengthened and made into versions of ourselves that reflect the creator of the universe.

Seems like a perfect partnership to me.

 

Kristin Hill Taylor lives in Murray, Ky., with her husband, Greg, and two kids – 5-year-old Cate and 3-year-old Ben. She can often be found trying to beat her husband in Words with Friends, playing games of Settlers of Catan with her best friends, watching “Parenthood” or “Bones,” listening to her daughter’s stories, reminding her son to be careful, or texting her friends. She believes in taking road trips, living in community, and keeping her camera and iPhone close. You can keep up with her at www.kristinhilltaylor.com or follow on her Twitter.